


camellia withlock│draco malfoy

by camillarandi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bellatrix - Freeform, Depression, Diagonalley, Eating Disorder, F/M, Fanfiction, Fluff, HarryPotter - Freeform, Hogwarts, Light Smut, Magic, Malfoy, McGonagall - Freeform, Murder, Torture, Violence, bad start-gets better, blaisezabini, dracomalfoy - Freeform, dracoxoc, dumbledore - Freeform, hermionegranger - Freeform, kind of, luciusmalfoy, malfoymanor, mutegirl, narcissamalfoy, nissi, not too much<, pansyparkinson is actually nice, remuslupin - Freeform, ronweasley - Freeform, rosieturner, signlanguage, siriusblack - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 67
Words: 75,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25745866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camillarandi/pseuds/camillarandi
Summary: ‘𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆.’---Camellia Withlock never expected to be a witch like in the Harry Potter books.She never thought that she would ever be able to live the in the wizarding world and befriend the people at Hogwarts.This story is about a young witch who discovers new things about her family, her past and herself, and how she may lose herself if she’s not careful.The more time she spends in the wizarding world, the more she forgets about the books and films. She has to relay more on her own skills and abilities to fight the rising darkness.---“𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.”Draco Malfoy x oc*I dont own anything from the Harry Potter series. I only own Camellia and my other original characters.*
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Original Female Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Female OC, Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. introduction

\- hello -

Welcome to my very first story!

This is the first time I have written something that I show to anyone that's not my family and friends, and the very first time I write fan fiction. This story will start in year 3 (so that we can start on the romance part faster *wink*)

This story is about a girl named Camilla Kristiansen from Norway that finds out she's a witch. She goes to Hogwarts where she finds out more and more about herself and her past. Some of it good and some of it bad. You'll follow her on her adventure to find out about herself, getting friends, lovers and allies.   
  
  


Now a few more things before you can start on the story:

 **1.** English isn't my first language. (It's Norwegian) So I'm sorry if there are some typos. Don't be afraid of correcting me on small mistakes! Also, I write both American and British so words like colour I will write like that instead of color. Because that's how I learnt it in school :)

 **2.** When reading the story you will find that some things are written in different "fonts". Here's a guide to what the different "fonts" mean:

 _no way, he's so handsome_ \- if it's written like this it means the main character, Camilla, is thinking. So they are her thoughts. It can also be like that if it is in a sentence like this: "But you _didn't_ do it!"

 **wow, she's beautiful** \- if it's written like this then it means that Draco Malfoy is thinking.

 ** _open now!_** \- someone is speaking in parseltongue.

 **3.** Warnings:

\- tourture

\- murder

\- depression

\- eating disorder

\- fluff

\- some curse words

\- some sexual content, but not to explicit

There may be more that is not listed here, but it will generally be written at the beginning of the chapter.

 **4.** Follow me on Pinterest for the aesthetics of the characters; <https://pin.it/27TnDib>

That's all, enjoy the story!

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A young girl, age thirteen soon fourteen walks down a street. The school bell had just rung and she was on her way home. The way home wasn't long, but not short either. Not that she minds. This is her favourite time of the day. The sun is starting to set and it's starting to get colder than it was earlier that day. The wind kisses her cheeks lightly. She can't wait to get home to her family where dinner is already on the table and her mother and father are sitting, waiting for her to come home to tell them about her day.

Not that she wants to talk about her day. This day started okay in the morning, but then Anna Smith had to ruin her day by being mean. Again. She heard someone say that Smith wasn't going to be at school that day, so she couldn't wait to have a normal day at school for once. But of course, she was wrong. She always calls her things like stupid, ugly or idiot.

Not that she was any of those. She wasn't ugly, quite the opposite actually. Her black long, wavy hair that framed her small face perfectly could make anyone jealous. Her sharp jawline and her small nose. And her eyes are even more beautiful. The bright blue colour goes perfectly with her pale skin. And stupid is something she certainly isn't either. She is one of the best students in her class, maybe even in the whole school and that's why she often is called the teachers' pet.

The only reason people are mean to her and bullying her is because of those reasons above. They are jealous of her looks and her achievements. So instead of praising her, they use it against her. Now she has gotten used to it and ignores it instead of acknowledging it.

She was almost at her house. She couldn't wait to get home to read Harry Potter and the half-blood prince. She had read it many times before, but she loves that book so much that she reads it every time she gets a chance. She was rounding the corner of her house when-

"Omg, I'm so sorry!"

"That's fine! Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you!"

_Why does he remind me of someone?_

"Hi, my name is-" he starts, but she cuts him off.

_How about we have some fun?_

"Wait, wait! Let me guess. Blond hair, new expensive suit and a handsome face. You must be a Malfoy!"

_Or maybe not..._

"I'm sorry I thought- you know what? Let's start over. Where are my manners? Hi, my name is Camilla Kristiansen. It's nice to meet you!" she takes out her hand for him to shake.

_Why is he staring at me like that?_

He shakes her hand before asking, "It's nice to meet you too, and you did get my name right. My name is Draco Malfoy, but how did you know that?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Try me," he says with confidence.

The girl thinks about her answer and in the end, she decides it's best not to tell him.

"I'm sorry, this is weird, but where are we?"

"London?"

"What?!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) I'm sorry for short chapter, but I wanted to have this as a the introduction. Some chapters will be short and some will be longer. Anywas, thanks for reading!
> 
> \- Camilla ❃


	2. letter

"London?"

"What?!" she says and starts to pace back and forth.

 _I can't be in London! I was just in Oslo! This is not possible!_ she thinks as she starts to breathe heavily. _Okay, slow down Camilla. Breathe, breathe. Wait! My phone! Let's check..._

"What’s happening?" Camilla pretends she didn't hear him. She then takes out her phone to check if she could contact her parents.

"I have no service! That can't be right at all! The date is August 28th the same as before… wait. It’s 1993?!”

“Yes,” he says questioningly. “August 28th 1993.”

“That’s not possible. I was on the corner of my house about to take the last turn and then I bumped into you!" she explains and points her finger at Draco. "And now I'm suddenly in London and no place to go or no one to turn to!"

"I could help you with that if you'd like? Let's start by going to Diagon Alley," he says with a small almost unnoticeable smile hidden behind his infamous smirk.

"Diagon Alley? But I’m not able to go there. I’m a muggle."

"You sure?" he points at her hand. In her hand there suddenly is a letter that wasn't there before. She looks at it and recognises it immediately. She looks first up at Draco who nods at her as to say 'open it'. Then she looks down at the letter again and carefully rips it open. She takes it out and reads the letter out loud.

“ ‘ _Dear Camellia B. Withlock,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September and you will be starting in year 3. More information will be given to you when you arrive._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_ ’ ”

"Pinch me please"

"What?"

"I need to know if this is a dream, so please pinch me"

He takes a step forward and then he pinches her arm lightly. She looks up at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe this. Her being a witch. Just a few minutes ago, she was on her way home and now she’s suddenly in London meeting a boy who says he’s Draco Malfoy.

"I'm sorry. This is a lot to me, and I don't know how to react. I just found out I'm a witch! So, I'm sorry you have to see me like this. You probably have a very good first impression of me now."

"I think it's pretty cute when you look like that." He says with his infamous smirk before noticing he said that out loud. Camilla blushes hard and chuckles. "Now, will you let me take you to Diagon alley?"

She nods her head nervously. Draco holds out his hand and Camilla loops her's with his and they start to walk down a street she swears she remembers from the films. After walking for about ten minutes they stop outside a restaurant/bar where the sign reads-

' _the leaky cauldron_ '

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N People are definitely going to ask, so for those of you who wonder. In Camilla's world, the year is 2019/2020. That's so she can read the books, see the movies and have a phone. She went back in time to get where I want her to be in the book.


	3. diagon alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) People are definitely going to ask, so for those of you who wonder. In Camilla's world, the year is 2019/2020. That's so she can read the books, see the movies and have a phone. She went back in time to get where I want her to be in the book.

third year

"Well, well, Lupin. Out for a little walk in the moonlight?"

\- Severus Snape

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They walk to the back of the leaky cauldron where there is a brick wall. Draco takes out his wand and starts tapping on some of the bricks in a special way. Camilla already knows what he's doing. She remembers seeing it in the first film. Then the bricks start opening up and there it is. Right in front of them. She pinches her arm again to make sure she was still awake, which makes him look at her a little worried. He takes her arm again and starts walking towards Gringotts. When she sees where they're going she stops. She just came here, how can she have any money?

"Let's go, the worst that will happen is that you don't have any money and if that's the case then I'll let you borrow some of my money so that you can get your supplies to school. Okay?"

She doesn't answer so he takes it as a yes and continues to drag her along to the bank. When they walk in she's taken back at how beautiful it is. So much more than in the films. The room is big with gold pillars going all the way to the roof. The floor has a beautiful pattern of brown, white and yellow/gold and on the sides, there were desks where goblins are working. They walk down to the end where one of the goblins she recognises as Griphook sits. Draco looks at her and nods.

"Excuse me? I wish to enter my vault," she says nervously.

"Name?"

"Camilla Kristiansen"

The goblin looks down to her and studies her face.

"Name?"

"What? I already told you Camilla Kri-" she starts, but Draco cuts her off.

"Wait, didn't it say another name in the letter. Say that name."

She takes out the letter and reads the name aloud. When she does, the whole place goes silent and everybody looks at her. Why? Has it something to do with that name? Camellia Withlock? People start to whisper and point at her. The goblin asks if she has her key, Camilla is confused, but then in her hand, a key appears just as the letter did. She studies it a little before she gives it to the goblin. It's a silver key with what looks like small leaf's going down the middle of it and on the top, it has three letters; _CBW? Camellia something Withlock maybe?_

"Your key?" He says again more irritated.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Here," she gives him her key and then they start going to her vault. They sit down in this weird waggon thing that kind of looks like a rollercoaster, just not as safe. They ride for a long time until they arrive before a big stone structure. From somewhere in the distance you can hear a roar of some kind. The closer they get to where the vault is the louder the sound gets. _I wish Draco didn't have to wait upstairs. This is so much scarier than what Harry had to go through his first time._

They arrive at an opening. The goblin takes something out of a box and gives it to the girl before he gives one to himself. Now Camilla can see what made those terrifying sounds. A dragon. A big white dragon. The goblin starts to walk around the dragon while shaking the thing he took out earlier. Camilla does the same and follows him. When they are safely on the other side they start going up two floors to a vault that reads: B. Whitlock. The goblin opens up the first door by touching it and then he uses the key on the second door. He looks at her impatiently.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's my first time here."

"Are you sure this is your first time, miss Withlock?" the goblin asked, curious.

"Yes?" Griphook scoffs then indicates for her to go in. She does so and is amazed about what's inside. The room is big with money and other things made of gold, but there's something else inside that catches her blue eyes more. In the far left corner of the room is a small box with beautiful patterns of flowers painted in a royal blue. She walks towards it. It's almost like it calls for her. When she's coming closer to the box she can hear something whispering.

****_Come..._ ** **

****_Take me..._ ** **

****_Take what's rightfully yours..._ ** **

****_Come on..._ ** **

She takes the box and opens it and inside is a necklace with a white chain and a hint of pink in it with a water drop shaped blue orb hanging on the chain. _It's beautiful._ She takes it up to her neck and hooks it around her neck. The necklace starts glowing and for some reason, she feels different.

"Do you have everything you need?" the goblin enters the room. You can see by his behaviour that he's getting impatient. Camilla looks down at the necklace which is no longer glowing.

"Yes, I'm almost done," she says with a smile to the goblin.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

"Draco!" someone shouts. He only met her again an hour ago, but he could recognise that voice everywhere.

"Did you get everything you needed?" he says with a smile. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile.

"Yes! Where to know?" she asks with her soft voice.

They start to walk down Diagon Alley and go into different shops. They get robes, books and they even went to get Camilla her very own owl. The feathers are black and white and the bird itself acts pretty majestically. Which she liked most about the owl. She, therefore, chose to call it Diana like the princess of Wales. While they were walking down towards Ollivanders' Draco couldn't keep his eyes off Camilla.

****How can a girl that has this terrible past be so joyful? She smiles like she has no worry at all. But I can't get out of my head what happened when we first met. What she said. It's like she didn't know anything. What happened to her all those years she was missing?** ** ****What made her like this?** **

****There it is again. That smile she does every time she sees something new. Even her eyes show the same joy as her smile. They have this small glint in them that I hope never goes away. Maybe she doesn't remember at all or she's just good at acting.** **

****I don't care what happened to her, what matters is that she's finally back again. And that I'll be able to see that smile more and more.** **

If only he knew...

(A/N) Hello! You'll get to see her owl in the next chapter. And in the next she'll get her wand and meet three famous characters. 

Can you guess who?

See you in next chapter! 

\- Camilla ❃

(The necklace ↓)

  
  



	4. the golden trio

"Hello?" She looks back at Draco who only smirks at her. _That stupid smirk!_ She looks ahead again and says it a little louder this time. Then suddenly an old-looking man came from behind all the shelves that were stacked with wands. He looks at her and studies her face a little before he gives her a large smile.

"Ah, miss Withlock."

Draco moves closer to her and whispers in her ear. "He knows everyone's names, don't be frightened," he whispers, and she automatically straightens her posture by the sudden closeness. Ollivander goes behind the shelves again to find a wand for her to try. After a few minutes, he comes back with a wand. He gives it to her, but she doesn't know what to do.

"Well, go on. Give it a swish," she did and then the vase with flowers that were on the counter broke. She flinched and put the wand on the counter so that she couldn’t do any more damage with it. This went one for quite some time, until...

"I wonder... Here, try this one," he says and hands her the wand. The wand was dark wood and looked like it could fit perfect in her small pale hand. She gave it a swish and then a light erupted around here, but the weird thing is that her necklace also started to glow just like before. When the light disappeared, the necklace also stopped glowing.

"This wand was previously your mother's, which was her mother's before that and then her mother's again before that. You could almost call it an heirloom in your family. The B-" He got cut off by the bell on the door indicating that someone's coming in.

"There you are Draco. I told you to wait in the leaky cauldron!" Lucius Malfoy angrily says at his son.

"I'm sorry, Father. I was showing this girl around," Draco answered in a formal way.

"And who might this young _girl_ be?" he asked while saying ‘girl’ as though he didn't believe him.

"Hello, Mister Malfoy. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Came-" She tries to introduce herself formally to him to make a good first impression, but before she's able to say her name Draco cuts her off. _What is it with him and cutting me off?!_ She thought.

"Camilla Kristiansen. Pureblood."

 _Pureblood?_ she thought but didn't correct him. He must have had a reason for saying so.

"Well a pleasure to meet you, miss..." Lucius says, but can't remember her last name.

 _Wow, he doesn't even remember my name even though Draco said it only a few seconds ago!_ She said to herself before replying. "Kristiansen, sir."

Lucius takes Draco's arm and begins to talk to him in a hushed voice. While they do that, Camilla goes to Ollivander to pay for her wand. When she's done, she says thank you to him with a big smile. But before she leaves Camilla takes out her new wand and points it at the vase and murmurs ' _Reparo_ '. Then she turns around, she sees that the Malfoy's are about to leave. She hurries after them. She just arrived here and thanks to Draco she wasn't lost. What would happen if they left without her?

"Draco, wait!" She shouts after him. He looks back at her and mouths 'sorry' and before she's able to catch up to them, they had already blended in with the crowd. Camilla sits down on a bench at the end of the alley. She sits there crying. Camilla isn't one that usually cries, but today so much had happened at once that she was just overwhelmed. First, she bumped into Draco Malfoy, then she was suddenly a witch with a new name and then Draco left her without warning.

_What am I going to do? I have no one here. Draco was the only one that I "knew". If I could even call it that. I want to go home. To mom and dad, but they are in Oslo and I'm in bloody London with nowhere to go and no one who can help me._

She broke down crying again. Some people would glance at her sometimes, but no one approached her or asked if she was alright. She was all alone in a place she did not know of.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

"No, Ron, you don't get to go to the sweets shop again. You can have plenty of sweets on the train," a girl Camilla's age says to a red-haired boy.

"But I didn't get enough to have before we-" he didn't get to finish his sentence because a raven-haired boy hit his shoulder lightly. “Ow!” the boy pointed to Camilla, who was lying on the bench. He approached her and shook her shoulder lightly.

"Hey, are you alright?" he said. Camilla woke up with a start and then looked around terrified.

"Wow, you're alright. We won't do anything to you" The red-haired boy says. In front of her stands two young boys and a young girl. The first boy has raven coloured hair and big round glasses. He has beautiful green eyes. He's not very tall and has worn clothes that look right out of a thrift store. The second boy has red hair and blue eyes. He is about the same height as the other boy and has clothes similar to the raven-haired boy. Only that he looks a little better. The girl has long brown hair. In Camilla's eyes, she is beautiful. And her fashion is far better than the other two. Then she remembers where she is.

"Oh my god, you're Harry Potter!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Poor Camilla, how could Draco just leave her like that? At least she got to meet the golden trio because of it.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> \- Camilla ❃


	5. the weasley family

_After my encounter with the trio last night I was brought to the burrow where I met the whole Weasley family. I haven't told them that much. Only my name. I told them that it was my first time in London and that I was lost. They didn't trust me that much yet, but at least they trusted me enough to take me to their home. And their home is so much cosier than in the films. Probably because I'm actually standing in it, smelling the air and feeling the warmth on my skin. The house is lovely, just like the family that lives here._

"The breakfast is ready" _I hear Ms., Weas- no I men Molly. She was very stubborn about wanting to be called Molly and not Ms Weasley yesterday._

_I hurried downstairs where everyone was already seated. The twins, Percy, Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Mr Weasley. Molly was still putting food on the table._

"I'm sorry if I was a little slow seeing that everyone is already seated."

Molly smiles at her, "Nonsense, come sit down.”

_They start to talk and laugh, but I'm not able to concentrate on their conversation. All I can think about are my "parents" back home. Yes, I really meant "parents". I don't even know if they really are my parents, because here I'm Camellia Withlock. I don't know who my real parents are, and I don't even know who I am anymore. I miss my old life. Yes, I was bullied, but at least I knew who I was and the only thing I could care about was my schoolwork and my family, or "family"._

"Who are you really, Camilla?" Harry suddenly asks. Hermione hits him with the back of her hand.

"Harry!" Hermione says.

"What, we know literally nothing about her!" Harry counters.

"I don't know if I know myself," she whispers. Not intending for the others to hear, which they did.

"What do you mean by that, dear?" Molly asks her, a little worried. Then Camilla begins to tell them about what happened yesterday. Her meeting Draco, getting the letter, going to the vault, getting all the supplies and then getting left all alone in Diagon Alley, feeling that she could trust them. She kept out about her name though, seeing how people reacted when she said it in Gringotts.

"Well, what could you expect? He's a Malfoy," Ron says after she's done with the explanation.

"He isn't that bad you know, he's just misunderstood. And his family hasn't been the best either," Camilla replies a little harsher than she would like herself.

"And how would you know? You just met him yesterday!" Fred says unexpectedly, or George... One of the twins. Camilla doesn't answer, which makes everyone look at her in anticipation for her answer.

"Well..." she starts.

"Spit it out, then!" Ron says, rather impatient.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, show some manners for the poor girl!" Molly scolds him.

"When I came here I was on my way home from school. In Oslo, Norway. I couldn't wait to get home to read... well, read about you guys. In ‘my world’ all of you are fictional characters. That's how I knew your names and who you are."

"You know that sounds absurd, right?" Harry askes.

"Yes, and that's why I was trying to go around that part because you would think I'm mad, which I'm not!"

"Then, what's your name? You never said any last name yesterday," Ron asks.

"In ‘my world’ I was called Camilla Kristiansen, but here my name, presumably, is Camellia Withlock." Their faces paled when she said the name. _What is it with that name? Why are people scared of that name?!_

"Children go upstairs. Camilla, stay here," Mr Weasley says. They do as he says. When they have left Molly puts a silencing charm on the room so that their conversation can't be listened in on. They went to the living room and brought Camilla with them. They sat her down on the sofa and they shared a few glances before Molly started talking.

"Camilla, dear. How much do you know?" she starts.

"I don't know anything except my ‘new’ name and who I supposedly am here."

"Well, your parents' names were Olivianna and Rutherford Withlock. They disappeared a few years ago when you were about 9 years old. The only thing that was found was their wands and a necklace. That necklace was put in their vault," Molly explained.

The girl showed them the necklace around her neck. "This one?" she asked. Molly moves closer to her to take a look.

"Yes, that's the one. Since no one could find them or you, they presumed that you were all dead, or killed."

"Who would kill them? What did they do?" she asks with tears in her eyes.

"They, well..." Mr Weasley stopped as if he was afraid of the answer.

"They were two of the most well-known death eaters. They were in You-Know-Who's inner circle. Two of the most feared dark arts magicians in the whole wizarding world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Dan, dan daaaaa. No, I'm just kidding. Now you got to know more about her and her parents. Well, real parents. Do you think they're really dead or do you think they are still out there somewhere? I would love to hear your theories.
> 
> \- Camilla ❃


	6. the train

The young girl was sitting all alone in one of the compartments. After what she found out about her parents at the burrow, she couldn't get her mind to think straight. All she could think about wasn't the fact that they were death eaters, but the fact that they were missing, which meant that they could still be alive out there. A few people went by her compartment, but when they saw who sat there, they left. Someone had been able to take a picture of her in Diagon Alley and sent it to The Daily Prophet. So now, everyone knows about her and who she is. And it seems that everyone knows more about her than she does herself. The Weasleys only told her about her parents and nothing more. They had gotten strict orders from someone to not tell her more than that.

The train started to move, and it was finally time for the girl to live her dream about going to Hogwarts. The parts when the characters were on their way to Hogwarts, was her favourite part. She loved the fact that they could travel by train and watch the beautiful landscape. Most of all she liked it since friends that hadn't seen each other for two months would meet again and share stories from their holidays. At least she would be able to enjoy one of the two. If only her phone worked so that she could take pictures of the view. She still occasionally pinches herself to make sure that it's really real. That it's not some dream or nightmare. Depends on how you see it.

She didn't mind that people stayed away from her or were too scared to approach her. She was used to people not liking her. What mattered to her was that she was able to go to Hogwarts, use a wand and learn magic. It was just like her old school, only that now she would be able to do so much more. She couldn't wait to meet the teachers and befriend the ghosts. The ghosts were probably the only people who would want to befriend her right now anyway.

After about an hour the compartment door where she was sitting opened up. She didn't look at who it was. She just continued to stare out on the landscape. The person who came in closed the door and sat himself down opposite of her. They sat like that for a few minutes before he spoke.

"I'm sorry." She doesn't answer. She continues to look out of the window pretending she didn't hear him. "I shouldn't have left you there all alone, but my father didn't give me a choice."

She continued to ignore him. She wasn't in the mood to talk right now and was more interested in why the train had stopped. It began to get colder and ice was forming on the windows. She knew that it had something to do with the films, but no matter how hard she tried to remember the more she forgot about it.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He understood that he wouldn't be getting an answer from her, so he got up and was ready to leave. He only got a few meters from the compartment when he noticed that a dementor went right into Camilla's compartment and wasn't coming out again. He ran to her and found her lying on the floor.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_How could I forget this part of the films? Why didn't I understand it when it started to get colder? And why did it come for me? It feels like every happy memory I had, just vanished and all that was left was the bad memories except this one. I can’t remember ever this one._

_I was sitting in a living room. I could hear some people talking. What they were talking about is a blur, but I can hear my name being mentioned a few times. I'm trying to move closer to them, but it's like my whole body is frozen in place. Tears are running down my face for a reason unknown. Maybe because of what's happening in the kitchen. Out of nowhere, a woman comes, and she sits down in front of me. She's crying. Telling me how much she loves me and that she's sorry for everything. Then I hear her muttering a spell I don't recognize. The next thing I know I'm sitting in the kitchen in my house in Oslo, laughing with my "parents" like what happened before was just a bad dream._

⊰ ❃ ⊱

After a few minutes, the girl wakes up. Her head is in someone's lap. She sits up and recognizes the boy. _Why did he come back? I don't want to talk to him right now._

"Eat. It'll help." Lupin says while handing her some chocolate. She takes the chocolate and starts eating it. Camilla feels better right away.

"Thanks, Professor Lupin." She answers, which gives her a confused look from both Lupin and the boy.

"What was that thing?" The boy askes. Lupin is about to answer, but Camilla cuts him to it.

"A Dementor. One of the guards of Azkaban. It was searching the train for Sirius Black."

"How do you know all this?" Lupin askes her, unable to hide his curiosity.

"I just do, Professor," she answers. Lupin looks at her more confused, but he can't shake the feeling that she knows her from somewhere. Those eyes...

"I need to have a word with the driver. Excuse me."

He leaves and closes the door behind him, leaving the two alone. He takes a breath and starts to say something, but she holds up her hand indicating that she doesn't want to hear it. He gets up again to leave and says one last sorry before he leaves her all alone. When she sees that he has left completely, she lets the tears run down her face.

_What was that? A memory, and who were those people? If it was a memory then that woman was my mother._ _I saw my real mother..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	7. the sorting ceremony

"First years, first years this way!" a big guy with frizzy long hair and a long beard shouted. Camilla doesn't know where to go, so she just stands at the platform awkwardly. The big man notices this and goes towards her.

"Miss Withlock?" he asks politely.

"Yes, that's me," she replies just as politely.

"Dumbledore told me that you'll be going with the first years since it's your first time also. Hasn't anyone told you that?" she shakes her head no. He leads her to where the first years are standing. They go into the boats and she sits down with three other students. They don't glare at her or whisper about her. _Muggleborn;_ she thinks to herself. _Probably why they let me sit with them. They don't know about me... yet._

When they get closer to the school, Camilla gets to see how beautiful Hogwarts is. It's far different from photos or small film clips. _It's stunning._ Bright lights are shining down on the waters and the castle looks so much bigger than she imagined it was. Everything that happened on the train and the days prior suddenly diapered. The closer she got to the castle the more she felt like home. She hadn't even stepped a foot inside the school yet, but ever since she stepped out on the platform she got this familiar feeling.

All of them stepped off the boats and started walking up the long stairs to where the great hall entrance is. After a few long minutes, they were standing just outside the great hall. A woman in a long green dress with a matching green hat and grey hair that was neatly set up in a low bun approached them. Camilla recognizes the old lady right away. Professor Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress. She took first a look over everyone and when she spotted Camilla, she stared a little longer at her than the others before she started talking.

"Welcome first years. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now while you're here your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the houses with the most points are awarded the house cup. The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily." McGonagall says.

She leaves for a few minutes before she comes back to get everyone. All of them follow the professor into the great hall. There are four long tables where each house has its own and at the end of the room is a table where all the professors and the headmaster are seated. She spots Draco looking at her, but she doesn't look at him. She also spots the golden trio sitting at the Gryffindor table together with the Weasleys, but she is too scared to even look at them. Especially after what happened at the burrow.

After they found out her last name, all of them stopped talking to her. It was so hard to stay with them when none of them even acknowledge her presence. Except for Molly and Mr Weasley. They acted civil against her, but not in the same loving way they were to Harry or Hermione. At least they were nice enough to let her stay until the school year started.

McGonagall kept reading names after names, and hers' was the last to be read up. Probably because she wasn't a first year student.

"Camellia B. Withlock!" When her name is read the whole room goes silent. Everyone looked at her in expectation. Waiting to hear what house the sorting hat was going to put her in. Even professor Snape was looking even more interested than before. She took a deep breath and then walked towards the chair. She sat down and the sorting hat was placed on her head.

"Ah, Miss Withlock. I was wondering when you would show up. Missing for a few years you were. I hoped I would be able to sort you just as I did your parents before you.

"Your family has been in both Gryffindor and Slytherin, but I see some of all the houses in you. Courage and bravery, patience and loyalty, intelligent and witted, ambitious and cunning. You could fit in all of them!

"But where to put you? Hmm... A tough one you are. I can see that you will do great things in the future. You will have to sacrifice a lot for the people you love. Do what you may not agree with.

"Gryffindor or Slytherin? What do you think, dear?"

"Me? I don't know, both of them seem like good choices," Camilla answers

"And if you had to choose?"

"I... Gryffindor," _or... maybe Slytherin would be better?_

"I see you're just as unable to choose as me. I don't think I have had to wonder so long on where to put someone before.

“I think that we'll go with your choice, Miss Withlock. Welcome to... GRYFFINDOR!" He shouts out.

No one claps or welcomes her to the table except Hermione. She waves her over to where she's sitting with Ron and Harry. Camilla goes to them sitting beside her.

"You're in our house!" Hermione says while giving her a side hug.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say before we become befuddled by our excellent feast. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Good luck to you, Professor," Dumbledore starts.

"Of course! That's why he knew to give you the chocolate, Harry," Hermione says to Harry.

"As some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs.

Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!" Everyone starts to clap. Hermione, Ron and Harry were a little louder than the others.

"Finally, on a more disquieting note, Hogwarts -- at the request of the Ministry of Magic -- will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban. The Dementors will be stationed at the entrances to the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving."

The feast started and everyone began to eat. Camilla wasn't that hungry, so she only ate some pie. _Gryffindor. Hmm... every time I took the test at Pottermore back home I would be Ravenclaw and sometimes Slytherin, but I never thought that the sorting hat would put me in Gryffindor of all houses. It said that I had traits from all of the houses. But I'm not brave. And I don't think I'll ever be that. I don't care who I was before I supposedly left, but I'm not that person anymore._

"Are you not going to eat?" Hermione asks after some time.

"I'm not hungry," she answers with a small, forced smile. Hermione shares a few worried glances with Harry.

"Is it true you also fainted on the train?" Harry asks Camilla who answers with a nod. "Did you hear the scream? I heard a woman screaming," she looks at him with one eyebrow bent downwards in confusion.

"It must have been your imagination, Harry," Ron says with food in his mouth.

"Disgusting, Ron," Hermione whispers to herself, but Ron hears it and gives her a smile with food still in his mouth. Harry laughs and Hermione looks away disgusted but is unable to hide her giggle. Out of nowhere, professor McGonagall appears behind Ron and Harry.

"Miss Withlock, could you go to Dumbledore's office tomorrow before breakfast? He'll ex-" she gets cut off by one of the Weasley twins.

"Haven't been here for even an hour and she's already in trouble," Fred says to George. McGonagall glared at him and his face paled when he saw that she heard him.

"Haven't been here for even an hour and have already lost five points," McGonagall replies.

"Nice one, Fred," George says with sarcasm.

"Where was I? Yes, He'll explain everything for you about Hogwarts and what you have missed, seeing that you're starting right in your third year. Have one of your housemates show you the way. Okay?"

"Yes, professor." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	8. memory

There was a soft knock on the door, followed by a firm 'come in'. Camilla was standing outside Dumbledore's office early the next morning. She opened the door and closed it carefully. When she turns around, she sees the headmaster sitting in his chair with a wide smile on his lips. On his left, professor Snape is standing with his usual blank expression. And on his right, professor McGonagall stands with a blanker expression than usual. Dumbledore indicates for her to sit down. She does, but not before she had gotten to look around the room a little. _Wow! It's so much bigger than in the films!_ Dumbledore clears his throat before he starts to speak.

"Did you sleep well?" Dumbledore starts. She just nods her head with a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

"You're probably wondering why we put you in third year and not first, I presume? Well, that's because your abilities are great enough to start right in third year. If the other teachers didn't protest, then I would have put you right in fifth or sixth year. But the others thought it would be better to put you together with people of your age." Camilla gets set back by this. Fifth or sixth year? She couldn't do any magic yet and certainly not the advanced magic they do in those years.

"But I can't do any magic, sir."

"What about the spell you did in Ollivander's or when you apparated to London?" both Camilla and Snape look at him in confusion. Snape knew about the apparating, but she did a spell in Ollivander's? That was news to Snape. "Yes, I know about that, and you did apparate to London. What other ways could you have ended up here?" he continues.

"I'm sorry, sir. But I think you have the wrong person. Yes, I knew how to fix the vase, but that was because of the movies and books. I just suddenly remembered the spell from there. And I can't do such advanced magic that fifth or sixth years would be able to do," she starts to get up from her chair to walk away. Dumbledore gets up from his chair to stop her from walking away. He walks up to her and puts a hand on her shoulder then he goes to one of the walls. The wall opens and a bowl comes out. Camilla recognizes it right away.

"Can I show you something, Camellia?" she nods her head and moves closer to the bowl, then she lowers her head into the bowl.

_What is this? It looks familiar... It's the same living room as in the dream I had when the dementor attacked. I see the same woman as before. Mom. There's also a man sitting beside her on the couch holding her hand. It must be my dad. They looked good together._

_"What do you expect me to do?" I didn't notice Albus sitting in the armchair opposite them. I was too distracted by looking at_ them _to notice him._

_"Help her, we have the spell ready to send her away. But when she comes back, she won't have anyone," the guy, my father, says to Albus while he squeezes my mother's hand._

_"You were able to get the spell to work? How?" Minerva asks with worry in her voice. 'When did she come?'_

_"How doesn't matter right now, Minnie. What matters is if you'll help her when she returns," my mother says impatiently._

_"Help will always be found at Hogwarts," Albus tells them. My father lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding._

_"When she appears again, you can put her in any year that fits her age. She is already pretty advanced in magic," my mother puts in._

_"We have been learning her wandless magic, so she is prepared. But when she comes back, she won't remember anything. It's a side effect caused by the spell. But with the help of you, she'll be able to remember. It's not permanent." 'So, the reason I don't remember anything is because of a spell my mother and father put on me?'_

_"How will she get back if she doesn't remember?" Minerva asks._

_"That is a good question, Minerva. How?" Albus asks them just as curios._

_"The spell will bring her back when it feels it's safe enough to return. It's hard to explain, but it's almost like the spell lives inside her, waiting for the right moment," my mother explains to them._

_"Okay, when she arrives, she will get help from us to remember and so that she has a place to stay." Albus answers. I can see that they are talking some more, but I'm unable to hear what they are saying. The image fades and then a new image appears in a place that looks like the hallway of their... our house._

_"What about her family? Won't they try to find her when she gets back?" Albus asks._

_"I trust in the Malfoys. They will keep her safe when the time comes," 'The Malfoy's? They are my family... Is that why he was so nice to me when we met that day in London?'_

_"Thank you, Albus, Minerva. I'm not sure if we'll be able to see each other again, so I'll say this now. Thank you for everything you have done for this family. We will always be in-depth to you." Albus smiles at them and then walks out the door. The image fades again, but this time it doesn't change._

"Do you still think we have the wrong person, Miss Withlock?" McGonagall asks her. Camilla can't get her head around it. She runs out of the room and down the stairs. Snape steps closer to McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"Maybe we should have waited a little longer. She is still shocked by everything else happening and now this too."


	9. the proud creature

“Camilla,” she flinches, “You need to eat something! You didn’t eat yesterday either!” Hermione is trying to get Camilla to eat, but because of what happened in Dumbledore’s office, she has lost her appetite. “Camilla?” She flinches again without noticing, “please?” Hermione tries her best but to no use. She opens her mouth to try again but gets cut off by McGonagall giving out the timetables. She also notices that Camilla hasn’t eaten, so she takes one of the timetables and writes something on the back before she gives it to her.

_‘Eat something, I know it was a lot to take in, but you’ll think better with food in your system.’_

_Minerva_

Camilla reads it and then nods her head gratefully towards McGonagall who smiles at her in return. She takes a piece of bread and starts to eat some. Hermione takes her timetable and reads what McGonagall wrote and then shows it to the boys, then whispers to the boys. “She wrote her first name, not McGonagall. What happened at that meeting this morning?” Harry and Ron shrug.

Harry stands up “We need to get going so we’re not late for class,” they begin to walk towards their first class of the day, Divination. The three of them sit down together.

“Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the mysterious art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess... the Sight. Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future. But know this. One either has the Gift or not. It cannot be divined from the pages of a book. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye.”

Hermione appears out of nowhere, “What rubbish.” Ron spins around in his seat.

“Where'd you come from?” she shared a few glances with him before she answered, “Me? I’ve been here all along.” The professor keeps talking, but Camilla is unable to concentrate on any of it.

_My mother and father asked Dumbledore and McGonagall for help. To keep me safe. But why would I not be safe? And the Malfoy’s is my family. I kind of hoped I could have a chance at Draco, but I guess that won’t work now. No, what are you thinking about? You have more important things to think about!_

“What do you see in Mr Potter's cup, Mr Weasley?” Camilla’s thoughts get cut off by the professor.

“Well. He's got a wonky sort of cross -- that's trials and suffering. But this lot here could be the sun -- that's great happiness. So... he's going to suffer but be very happy about it.” The professor takes the cup from Ron’s hands and immediately drops it again.

“What is it, professor?” Parvati asks.

“My dear boy... You have the Grim,” she answers. “What does it mean, Professor?” Dean Thomas asks the professor.

“The Grim. Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen of death,” Camilla blurs out. Everyone is now looking at her and then at Harry. Hermione taps on Camilla’s shoulder.

“How do you know that when you haven’t even opened up your book?” She shrugs in reply.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Camilla went down to Hagrid’s hut faster than everyone else. She suddenly remembers what they are going to do in this class because of the films. When she arrives at the opening in the forest, she lays her bag and book on the ground before approaching the creature. The girl stands a few meters from it, looks it in the eyes and bows. A few seconds later the creature bows back. She steps forwards and pets it’s head and smiles broadly.

“How did you know how to do that?” she turns around and sees Hagrid standing there with an expression that leaks of surprise. Camilla just smiles at that before walking over to her bag and picks it up. A few minutes later the rest of the class appears. Hagrid walks up to the front.

“Gather around. Find yourself a spot. That’s it. Now, the first thing you’ll want to do is open your books,” Camilla does so. Hermione looks at her in confusion. “How?” she closes the book again before showing Hermione how to do it. She strokes its spine and it opens.

“And exactly how do we do that?” Draco asks in confusion

“That’s it. Look, Miss Withlock knows how," Camilla closes the book again and shows it to everyone this time. While she’s showing them how to do it, she walks back over to Hermione. Hagrid goes somewhere for a moment to get something. Camilla spaces out and doesn’t come back from her thoughts before there are just her and Harry in front of everyone. She looks around before pushing Harry forward, giving him a reassuring smile before she walks back to Hermione again.

“I already said hello to him,” she answers after seeing her confused look for the third time that day.

“Is that why you went earlier than everyone else?” She nods and looks back at Harry who was now on top of Buckbeak and then he and Harry fly up into the air. Hagrid smiles. After a few minutes, they come back and land. Hagrid lifts Harry off the creature and then says a few words to him. While they talk Draco moves towards Buckbeak.

“Give me a go at that thing. If Potter can do it, it must be easy. You're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute-” Buckbeak looked offended by his words and went to strike him down. Draco falls on his back screaming. “It’s killed me, it’s killed me!”

“Draco!” Camilla runs to him. “Hagrid, he needs to be taken to the hospital wing!” Hagrid leans down and picks him up saying something about him being the teacher and that it’s his responsibility. He begins to walk towards the hospital wing, with Camilla on his heels.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

The girl’s sitting in the hospital bed beside him. After he was brought here Madam Pomfrey healed his wound, but he passed out because of the pain. He might have been a little dramatic back in the forest, but the pain was real. He looks so peaceful now. _I hope he’s not in pain when he wakes up. I’m still mad at him for what he did in Diagon Alley, but that doesn’t mean I want him to be in pain._ Draco winces before he opens his eyes and sits up. Bright blue eyes meet grey, confused eyes.

“Hi,” he starts with a smirk but gets cut off by her getting up from the chair. “What?!” Camilla continues to walk towards the door and opens it. She looks back at him and gives him a small smile before she turns and walks out of the hospital wing. He lays back on the bed with a smirk plastered on his face. ****God, she makes me speechless.****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	10. trust problems

_It’s been a few months since I first came to Hogwarts, a few months since I found out about myself and my real parents. People still whisper about me whenever I walk by them and they still glare at me. Sirius has been sighted not far from the school a few days after Draco’s injury._

_Something that I found terribly odd, is that not only did Sirius escape from Azkaban, but Bellatrix too. As far as I remember from the films, she didn’t escape before after Voldemort came back. What changed? Maybe because of me…_

_In DADA class about a month ago, we encountered a boggart, but the class got cut short because of Harry, as always. But professor Lupin said that we’ll do it again later for those of us who didn’t get a chance to try it. I’m a little scared of what mine can be. To be honest I have no idea. There have also been trips to Hogsmeade. Minerva was kind enough to sign my paper since I have no one. I went there one time with ‘Mione, but I’d rather stay back at Hogwarts and read._

_I’ve been trying to read as many books as I can. Mostly about what they did in school the two previous years so that I know. My parents may have learnt it to me before, but I can’t remember any of it yet. So why not read about it. Maybe It’ll trigger my memory? It hasn’t happened yet, but sometimes I dream about them. These happy memories from when I was younger._

_Minerva and Albus, who I’m now on a first-name basis with, have told me stories about them. Just about how they were in school and happy things, but it bugs me a lot that they won’t tell me about the “bad” things also. I know already that they were death eaters so why not tell me about that too?_

_Oh, and Sirius has also attacked the school. It was no fun to lie on the floor in the great hall. It’s dusty and cold. We live in a magical world, but they couldn’t have used a spell like Scourgify to clean it up first or used some kind of spell so that it was warmer? Also, ‘Mione finally found out about Lupin's secret. I already knew he was a werewolf because of the films, so I was waiting for her to find out herself. And Snape’s famous line from the film’s “turn to page 394” is so much better in person!_

_Harry’s accident with the dementors at the Quidditch match has also happened. He turned out alright just like in the films. But his broom was another thing. At least he’ll get a new one for Christmas. Harry has gone a few times to Hogsmeade by using the invisibility cloak. Last week he got the Marauder's Map from the Weasley twins and found out that Sirius was his godfather. He reacted just like in the films._

“Melia!” _That’s what Hermione calls me. I have begun to hate my name, both of them. Camilla was just a fake name and Camellia is the person I’m supposed to be here. But I don’t feel like any of them. ‘Mione noticed this and began to call me that. I like it. It’s my own name and not a name that I have to live up to._

“There you are!” ‘Mione starts, “I’ve been looking all around for you.”

“I told you that I was going to the library.”

“Yes, and I went to the library and you weren’t there,” Melia just giggles at that. She took the long way to the library to clear her mind a little. “I took the long way”

“I noticed… Now let’s go!” Melia laughs at her attitude. ‘ _She really loves to study’,_ she thinks to herself. They walk towards the library where Harry and Ron are waiting. ‘Mione somehow convinced them to study with them.

“Finally, what took you so long?”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Albus, Minerva, Remus and Severus are sitting in front of the fireplace in Albus’ office. Albus sits down on one of the chairs before he starts to speak, “How has she been?”

Remus places the book he was holding back in the bookshelf, “She doesn’t talk a lot. She’s a very quiet girl.”

Albus looks at him in deep thought. It’s quiet for a few minutes. Not an uncomfortable silence. Only the sparks from the fire can be heard. “What about you, Minerva?” he asked her after some time. She thinks a little about what to say before speaking.

“Well, Remus is right. She is very quiet. Only speaks to those she trusts or if she doesn’t have a choice. Like in classes. I have only noticed her speaking to Miss Hermione Granger and a few words to Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, but no one else.”

“Who is alive,” Remus points out.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I have seen her speaking to ghosts and paintings. Mostly Rowena’s daughter, Helena.”

“Why? What has made her mute?” Severus asks with a little hint of worry in his voice.

“Four years of her life has been a lie and everything before that she doesn’t remember. Of course she’s having trouble trusting people. She’s probably scared that this is also a lie, so she doesn’t get too attached to people just in case,” all of them ponders on Remus’ words. They feel all equally guilty of her becoming like this. ‘How could I let this happen?’ is the question that wanders in their minds.

“What about her educational achievements? How is she in classes? Is she as good as her parents told us she would be?”

Minerva answers right away without any doubt in her voice, “She’s even better than what they told us! Every spell we are learning about, she can do at first try!”

“Even in potions, I asked her a question that is meant for sixth years last week and she answered right at first try! It’s like what she’s learning now is too easy for her.”

Albus goes into deep thought again. He thinks about what he promised her parents. She had to stay in the year with those of her age. Even if she is bored in classes, she has to take them. For herself and for her parents' last wish. For her to have a normal childhood. She won’t get that if she goes right into seventh year, even though her abilities fit that year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) From now on the main characters name, Camilla, will be written as Melia. The reason has already been described in this chapter. Just a friendly reminder in case you're confused :)
> 
> Also! I know Bellatrix doesn't escape before year five I think, but I have something planned in the storyline that needs Bellatrix before the Fourth year.
> 
> \- Camilla ❃


	11. closer

“Welcome class! Since it’s the last lesson before Christmas I thought we could let the people who didn’t get to do this last time do it now,” everyone starts to whisper in excitement. Hermione nudges Melia’s side. She didn’t get to do it last time, so this time she gets to.

“Now, let’s start by freshening up our minds. Who can tell me what a boggart is?” Hermione’s hand shoots up into the air. “Someone who’s not Miss Granger,” Melia giggles at that.

“What about you, Miss Withlock?” he asks her, a little worried that he may have been too hopeful by asking her like this in front of the whole class.

“Like she would say something, sees as mute as a worm,” someone in the back of the classroom says, louder than intended. Melia hears this and decides to speak up.

“No one knows what they look like. Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears most. That's what makes them so terrifying,” Lupin nods proudly at her, then he starts repeating the spell again. After the spell has been shouted out into the room, people start to form a line. Blaise Zabini starts. After a while, it’s Melia’s turn. Lupin goes up to her.

“You can do it wordless if you’ll like that better,” he whispers in her ear and walks back to where he stood before. Melia steps closer and the boggart uses a lot of time before it decides. A mirror appears in front of her. You can see the reflection of her in it, but not the people behind her. She points her wand at the mirror and without a word, casts the spell. The mirror turns into one of those mirrors you see in fairs where you look taller or fatter in. Everyone laughs except Melia.

Hermione grabs her arm and brings her to the back of the class where Harry and Ron are standing. All three of them asks if she’s alright, which she answers with a small nod. Some more people get to have their turn before the class is over. Lupin wishes everyone a Happy Christmas before they’re able to leave.

“Miss Withlock, could you stay for a moment?” Melia looks at Hermione.

“We’ll wait outside,” she says while smiling at the girl before turning to Lupin, “It won’t take long, right professor?” he shakes his head no. Melia gives her a smile that says ‘thank you’ before turning to see what the professor wanted.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable by asking you out in class like that. I hope it was alright,” he starts off.

“Yes, I didn’t mind it,” she answers with a smile.

“Good, good. Are you staying here for the Christmas break?”

“Yes, I was invited to stay with the Weasley’s, but I declined,” Remus could see she didn’t want to talk more about that, so he changed the subject. They talked for a few more minutes before she went to Hermione and the boys.

“Let’s go.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

That night she went up to the Astronomy tower with one of her favourite books, ‘Oliver Twist’. She’s always loved that book. She would read it whenever she wasn’t reading the Harry Potter books. Melia needed some alone time after what happened in the DADA lesson earlier. ‘ _My fear is myself’_ That was the thought that wandered in her mind. It had been an hour of her reading in silence when someone came up the stairs. The girl didn’t even look at who came, not even flinching when that person sat himself down beside her. She doesn’t look up at him before he takes off his jacket and puts it on her shoulders.

“It’s getting colder. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

She smiles at him gratefully and closes her book looking into his stormy grey eyes. Both of them move closer until their noses brush against each other. They stay there for a few seconds. Waiting for the other to make a move. Before he gets a chance, she moves back.

“I can’t,” tears are threatening to spill. “I’m sorry.”

“Why not?” he says harsher than intended.

“You hurt me, Draco! You haven’t spoken to me in months and then you expect me to just kiss you?” she yells just as harsh. He takes a deep breath and thinks before he answers her.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to talk to me or not, but I have been thinking about you! Wanting to make a move, but I was too scared… Scared that you would reject me.”

Tears are now running down Melia’s face. She wants to be close to him, kiss him, embrace him, but she can’t stop the thoughts of what happened when they met for the first time. She turns her head looking at the view instead of looking into his beautiful eyes.

“What can I do to make it up to you?” he asks, his voice softer this time.

“Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me about me, how you knew me and about my parents.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.
> 
> And short chapter, I know, but I wanted to end it with a small cliffhanger. (a kind of bad one, but still)


	12. her past

“I met you for the first time when we were 7 years old. Your family came to visit my family. I was told by my mother that some very important guest would be arriving and that I would have to behave.”

“Behave,” she giggles.

“Hey, no cutting off,” he points his finger playfully at her. “Now, where was I? Yes, dinner. When you arrived with your family, I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. We were young, yes, but you were so beautiful. The dinner went pretty well. You and your parents, Olivianna and Rutherford, came over for dinner or just tea many times after that. We grew closer and closer. I would always ask my mom when you would be coming again. You would always come for Christmas and in the summer. I was so happy, happier than I have ever been in my whole childhood. Then one day my mom came into my room. She looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy. I went right up to her and hugged her. She told me that we wouldn’t be seeing you anymore. That you had moved and that I would never get to see you again.

“I cried a lot that day and a few days after that too. You made me happy, you made me look forward to Christmas and birthdays. You made me smile every time you asked my mom in secret if you could have some pumpkin juice because you were never allowed to drink it at home. Those two years I had with you will always be the best years of my childhood.

“A year later I was eavesdropping on my dad, I heard him mention your fathers' name and wondered why they would be talking about him. I then found out that you and your parents had gone missing. Only their wands and a necklace were left. After that day I waited. I waited in excitement. Hoping that one day I would be able to see you again. And I did. When I bumped into you that day in August, I knew it was you. I could recognize those beautiful dark blue eyes anywhere. Your soft voice and how you get small dimples when you smile. When I found out that you didn’t remember me, my heart sank. I brought you through Diagon Alley so that we could have one day together again. Even though I was the only one who remembered.

“When my dad came, he recognized you right away too. Those eyes are hard to forget. I knew that the reason for your parent’s disappearance had to be because they didn’t want to be death eaters anymore. They tried to flee, get you to safety and away from anything that had to do with the Dark Lord. You see, the Dark Lord saw that your parents wanted out when they found out Olivianna was pregnant with you. He made them stay by making you his… well, his property in a way. Not in a dirty way, but in a way where he could use you on his side of the war. Make you a weapon.

“That’s why you have been learning magic from a very young age. With my father’s contacts in the Ministry, you were able to perform underaged magic without consequences. Now I see that your parents didn’t do it to make you a weapon for him, but to make you strong enough to stand up to him. To fight him, not fight for him.”

Both of them had tears in their eyes when he was done explaining. They stayed like that for a little while. Crying in silence looking out at the beautiful scenery. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence; it was a pleasant one. After Melia had sorted her thoughts and let them sink in, she turned to look at Draco.

“I’m sorry,” her voice breaks as more tears stream down her face. He moves his arms around her and embraces her in a hug. “Why are you sorry? It wasn’t your fault any of this happened,” she pushes herself out of his embrace and looks him in the eyes.

“If it hadn’t been for me then mom and dad didn’t have to go through what they did. They would be sitting in their house now, drinking wine and be happy. I destroyed their lives by being born.”

“Hey, look at me,” she doesn’t. “Look at me,” his voice is even softer this time which makes her look at him.

“None of this is your fault. Every time I looked at your parents, I could see how happy they were. Your mother and father loved you and would do anything for you to be happy. Never think that this is your fault,” Melia looks away again, but Draco lifts her chin so that their eyes meet again. “They made their decisions, some of them were wrong and some of them were right, but one thing I know they never thought was a bad or wrong decision was you, Melia.”

Draco embraces her again, they stay like that for a while, just drowning in each other’s comfort. Suddenly she starts to giggle, “Wait, I used to ask for pumpkin juice all the time?” Draco laughs at that.

“I told you a long explanation on your dark past and that’s the only thing you're commenting on?”

After some more laughs, Melia walks down to her common room. There Hermione is waiting for her worried. She wanted to tell her off and ask her where she has been, but after seeing the state Melia was in, she decided against it. Instead, she walked up to her and hugged her. She cried some more into Hermione’s shoulder before they went up to bed. She didn’t go to sleep herself before making sure that Melia had fallen asleep. After that she went to bed herself, choosing to wait for her to talk when she was ready. It took a while, but an hour after midnight both girls were sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) wow, that was a lot. But now we know more about her and her parents. Also the moments between Draco and Melia! I loved writing them, they are so cute!


	13. friendly fire

It had been a few days since Draco told Melia about her past. They met a few times after that in the Astronomy tower and she told him all about those four years she was in Norway. Except for the bullying part. She didn’t want him to worry for nothing. She wasn’t going back there anyway. Hermione had been trying to get her to talk, but she’s not ready yet. She will tell her one day.

Now Melia is walking down towards The Whomping Willow to read. She has been spending a lot of time there lately. People are too scared to move closer to it because of its violence and that means that people don’t often come here and Melia can get to read her book without being disturbed. She uses a spell on the tree and sits down on a blanket. She reads for about 15 minutes when she hears something moving in the bushes in front of her. Melia takes out her wand and walks towards the bushes. She can’t see anyone or anything in the bush when she gets there. When she turns around, she sees a big black dog and recognizes it right away. It starts to run away, but Melia follows.

“Wait!” Melia shouts while running after him. “Stop, please! I know who you are, and I believe you!” The dog stops once they’re at a small camp. There are a small tent and a small campfire. He turns into a human and turns around now facing the girl. Sirius Black is now standing right in front of Melia. She sees how skinny he is. ‘ _He must be hungry’_ she thinks to herself. Then she takes out the sandwich she had in her backpack and gives it to him. He takes it gratefully and starts to eat, Melia places the blanket on the ground and sits down.

“How did you know it was me?” he asks between mouthfuls. She just smiles at him mischievously. “Okay, then what did you mean by ‘I believe you’?” Melia thinks about how to say it without sounding crazy. It was hard enough to get Draco to believe her.

“I have known for a long time, Mr Black. I know you're innocent and that you’re not trying to kill Harry, but Ron’s rat, Scabbers. Or should I say, Pettigrew?” Sirius is taken back by that. He didn’t expect to hear that answer from her.

“How do you know all this?”

“I’ll tell you if you promise to let me finish my story before you get to say anything!” Sirius pretends that he is closing his mouth and throws away the key. Melia takes a deep breath before she begins to explain. She leaves a lot of the story out and only tells the necessary. She feels like she can trust him more than other people for a reason unknown to her.

They sat like that for a few hours before Melia started to walk back to the castle. Then she remembered Sirius telling her that he had given Harry his new broom. She had completely forgotten about that. She ran up to Dumbledore’s office hoping to find McGonagall with him. She knocks on the door and walks in after getting the ‘come in’ from the man inside.

“Ah, Miss Withlock. What can I do for you?” Albus says.

“The broom that Harry got, it’s safe. I can’t tell you who gave it to him, but I know it’s safe.”

Minerva walks closer to her, “And how do you know that?”

“I just do.” Albus and Minerva share a few glances before trying to reason with Melia on why they should still do it. They can’t take the chance. What if she’s wrong and Harry gets hurt. After a lot of convincing, Melia leaves. She walks to the common room and sits down on one of the couches. _Of course, they won’t believe a fourteen-year-old girl._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) wow, this was a bad chapter, but I needed to get their relationship to start.


	14. payback

“You... foul... loathsome... evil... little cockroach...” Hermione walks up to Malfoy pointing his wand at his throat. He cowers under her wand.

“Hermione, no. He’s not worth it,” she stepped away from him. She turns around as if she’s walking away, but then she hits him right in the face. The trio goes down towards Hagrid’s hut while Melia stays behind. Crabbe and Goyle both ran inside. She takes out her wand and heals his nose. She looks at him with worry in her eyes. He smirks at her.

“I’m alright you know,” she doesn’t answer. He takes his arms around her and embraces her. They stay like that in each other's arms not saying anything, then Melia remembers what is supposed to happen in the films. She says sorry to Draco then she runs down to The Whomping Willow. After she immobilizes the tree, she runs inside and up the stairs to the room where the others are. She sees Sirius and Remus sharing a heartfelt hug. Melia runs towards Sirius. Tackles him in a hug.

“Sirius!” The trio looks at her and feels betrayed. “Hey there, Sugar,” she smiles up at him.

“We trusted you and you betrayed us!” Melia tried to block out what they were saying. She knew that all of it would be explained later and that if he knew the truth, they wouldn’t be saying that.

“Let us explain and then you can see if you will still trust her or not,” Sirius tries to defend her.

“No, I have already made up my mind. STUPEFY!” Melia falls on the floor and hits her head in the wall. Harry’s spell was full of anger and betrayal that she hit her head so hard that she fainted almost right away. She remembers someone kneeling down beside her and checking if she’s alright. The last thing she remembers is someone talking to her.

“You’ll be alright, Sugar.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Draco sits beside her bed holding her hand. He was already in the hospital wing after his nose was broken. When Hermione hit him, she also hit his head back into the stone that was behind him. He got a small concussion and went to get it healed by Madam Pomfrey. When he was about to leave, Professor Snape came in with Melia unconscious. Draco wanted to know what happened but didn’t get an answer. So now he’s sitting here. Waiting for her to wake up.

Harry and Ron woke up some time ago. Looking at the picture unfolding in front of them. They never thought they would see Malfoy this loving towards someone. The door opens and Dumbledore comes in.

“Headmaster! You've got to stop them! They've got the wrong man!” Hermione tells him.

“It's true, sir. Sirius is innocent.” Harry continues.

“We know the truth. Please, sir, you must believe us.”

“I do, Miss Granger. But I'm sorry to say the word of three…” he looks at Melia, “four thirteen-year-old wizards will convince few others. A child's voice, however honest and true, is meaningless to those who have forgotten how to listen.

“Mysterious thing, time. Powerful. And, when meddled with... dangerous. Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the Dark Tower. You know the laws, Miss Granger. You must not be seen. And you would, I feel, do well to return before this last chime. If not... well, the consequences are really too ghastly to discuss. Three turns should do it, I think. If you succeed, more than one innocent life may be spared tonight.

“By the way, when in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin... Good luck.” He smiles at them before exiting.

“What in bloody hell was all that about?”

Hermione doesn’t answer, instead, she puts a chain around her and Harry.

“Sorry, Ron. But seeing as you can't walk...” she gets cut off. “Good luck, ‘Mione, Harry,” Melia says. Hermione nods her head at her. Right after they left, they came in the door of the hospital wing.

“How'd you two get over there? I was just talking to you... over there.” Ron says.

“What do you think, Harry? Too much for him -- everything that's happened tonight?” Harry laughs at that before answering her. “Afraid so. Always been a bit of the nervous type, Ron has,” Melia laughs at them before trying to get up in a sitting position. Her blue eyes meet his grey ones.

“Hey,” He gets up from the chair and goes towards the door. He opens it up, takes one final look at her, giving her a genuine smile before leaving. Melia gets up from the bed and goes over to the other three. Harry looks at her.

“What was all that about?”

“Payback.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	15. see you later

Remus comes out of his office, Harry at his heels. “Hello, Melia,” he smiles sadly at her. “Or should I say goodbye?”

“I know we will see each other again soon, so I think a ‘see you later’ will be best.” Remus chuckles before stepping closer to her and hugs her. He looks at her one last time before walking out of the room. Harry walks up to her and stands beside her. They both begin to walk towards the great hall after a few minutes.

“How come you trust him more than me?” Melia doesn’t answer and just smirks at him.

“I think you have been hanging around Malfoy too much,” they both burst out laughing.

“Don’t you have that meeting with Dumbledore now?” Melia stops and looks wide-eyed at him. “You forgot, didn’t you?” she nods her head and gives him an apologetic look before running towards Albus’ office. Harry chuckles.

She runs up the stairs and catches her breath before knocking on the door. She pushes the door open and sees that he is accompanied by both Severus and Minerva. Melia smiles at them and takes a seat at the usual chair.

“We have decided that you will be staying with the Malfoy’s this summer. You’ll be going with Draco Malfoy and then Mr and Ms Malfoy will pick you up back in London.” _I can’t remember reading anything about something happening at the Malfoy Manor this summer, so I think it’s safe._

“Okay,” she says with a small smile.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“You’re going to stay with the Malfoy’s? At their house?” Ron exclaims.

“No, in their boat. Of course, their house!” Hermione counters.

“They have a boat?” The girls roll their eyes. They begin to talk, but Melia can’t concentrate on what they're saying.

_I can’t believe it’s already been a year. A year since I met Draco Malfoy, got left in Diagon Alley by the same person, meeting the golden trio and going to the burrow, getting sorted in Gryffindor and learning new things every day. A few months ago, I finally learned more about my parents and me. And a few weeks ago, Sirius was “free”, and Harry finally knows the truth about him._

_Back in Oslo, I used to imagine being friends with the golden trio. Sitting in the great hall eating and laughing with them. Doing things were not supposed to without getting in trouble because Harry is Harry Potter._

_And what I never thought of imagining was him. His stormy grey eyes and that smile he only shows to me. Yes, he’s mean to Harry, but I know the reason he acts like that. And in this version of the story, I’m part of that reason. My disappearance._

Melia spots someone’s on their way out of the great hall and immediately gets up and walks towards him.

“Where are you going?” Harry asks. Hermione nods her head towards Draco who’s waiting for her by the door. When she arrives by his side, he snakes his hand around her waist, and they walk together.

“Hey, love.”

“Hey, handsome.”

“Oh, get a room already,” Blaise Zabini says from beside Draco.

“Piss of, Blaise.”

“Wow, okay. Choosing your girlfriend over your best friend.”

“Were not together,” they both say at the same time.

“Ha, good one. How long did it take you to get that line perfect?” both of them try to walk away from him, but he follows. “Hey, I wasn’t joking. I want to know!”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

The group of four was sitting on the train. Melia didn’t know whether or not she should be nervous or excited. She hadn’t been in the Malfoy manner since she was eight, even though she doesn’t remember it. How will they act towards her? _What if they hate me? No, why would they invite me to stay with them if they hated me?_ They stepped on to the platform when the train had stopped.

Ron walks up to Melia, “If anything happens then you’re welcome at ours. You don’t have to stay with them.”

“I chose this myself, Ron,” she says while hugging him back. She hugs the other two before Draco comes and drags her away. She says goodbye to them one last time and walks with him to his parents.

“Mother, father,” Draco says formally.

“It’s good to see you again, my son,” Narcissa tells her son. “And it’s good to see you again, Camellia.” She flinches at the mention of her name. Her smile falters. She hasn’t heard that name in months.

“Mom,” Draco says firmly. “Oh, I’m sorry dear. It’s Melia now, right?” She nods her head and forces a smile. Then the four of them walked out of the station.

  
  



	16. malfoy manor

They walk in the big doors of the manor and Melia is stunned right away by how pretty the manor looks. _How could I forget this place, it’s beautiful._ Draco takes his hand under her chin and closes it. She hits his arm playfully, which he just smirks at.

“Draco, why don’t you show Cam- Melia her room?” Narcissa says. Draco takes Melia’s hand and starts to walk her towards the stairs. Lucius turns around walking into his office, Narcissa right behind him. He sits down and scoffs.

“She looked at the house like it’s the first time she had seen it.”

“Lucius-”

“No, this is absurd. The whole situation is absurd.”

“Lucius. You know that Olivianna’s and Rutherford’s spell worked, but it came with a side effect. She can’t remember anything. Not yet, at least,” she walks over to him and places her hands on his shoulders. “Now we just have to wait until my sister comes. Until then, let’s make the days she has left the best we can,” he places a hand over hers.

“Yes, let’s do that. Let’s make her last days of her childhood the best we can.”

Back upstairs, Draco had just shown Melia her new room for the summer before they went to the library. They were sitting on the sofa, her legs are over Draco’s and he runs his hand up and down one of her legs. They sit like that for an hour of just reading in a comfortable silence until Narcissa comes into the room. She smiles at them before telling them that dinner is ready.

They walk down to the dining room where Lucius is already seated. After a delicious meal, Melia goes up to bed. She’s had a long day and needs sleep. She takes a quick shower and changes into her pyjamas. That night she dreams about the first time she met Draco, the one she remembers.

The next few days had been some of the best days both Draco and Melia have had in a long time. Lucius and Narcissa wanted to keep the promise they made to Melia’s parents. They couldn’t hold it for much longer, but they were going to do their best. A lot of people think that it was the Malfoy’s that had something to do with their disappearance, but that was not the case. The two families were very close to each other. But because of the Dark Lord, they had to stop that friendship. Narcissa feels guilty for what happened to them even though she had nothing to do with it. She lost her best friend just as Draco did, only that she never gets to see hers again.

“I want to show you something,” Draco says one day to Melia. She had a questioning look on her face. He takes her hand and hauls her up from the sofa. They go outside, into the gardens. When they are nearly at the place he was going to show her, he takes his hands over her eyes.

“Draco,” she whines.

“Trust me, love.”

They take a few more steps before they come to a stop. He removes his hands. On the grass under the big tree, there is a blanket with food and pillows on it. He takes her hand and leads her down to sit. After they had eaten way more food than they should have, Melia starts to feel tired. She lays her head in his lap and he strokes her hair. He takes out the book he brought with him and starts reading out loud. ‘ _Oliver Twist’_ , she thought. _He remembered._ Before he was even able to read one chapter, she had fallen asleep. He puts down the book for a minute and kisses her forehead, then he starts to read again.

The next day, Melia wakes up before everyone else. Or so she thinks. She walks down to the kitchen where Narcissa is standing. She says good morning to Melia and places a plate of egg and bacon in front of her. Melia smiles gratefully. _Should I? Will she remember it?_

“Could I get some pumpkin juice with the breakfast?”

Narcissa looks at her, a tear falling down her face. She smiles at her and walks over to the fridge. She takes a glass and pours some juice in it then gives it to Melia.

“There you go. I won’t tell your mom,” she says with a wink as some more tears run down her face. Now Melia is also shedding tears.

“Thank you. Nissi.”

Nissi, that’s what she used to call Narcissa. Melia doesn’t know how, but she just suddenly remembered the nickname she gave her. Now both of them are crying messes. Draco comes into the room and sees the scene unfolding in front of him.

“What’s going on? Why are you both crying?” He asks with worry in his voice. Melia points at the glass with pumpkin juice. “Wait, is that pumpkin juice? Is that what all this crying is about?” They both nod their heads. Lucius comes up behind Draco whispering, “Women…” Both Melia and Narcissa take a bacon piece and throw it at the boys.

“Hey, stop wasting food!” Lucius tells them off. The girls look at each other, smiling from ear to ear. _Thank you, Nissi._

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_I’m sitting in the living room again. I can hear some people talking. What they were talking about is a blur still, but I can hear my name being mentioned a few times._

_This is the same dream from when I was attacked by a dementor on the train._

_I’m trying to move closer to them, but it’s like my whole body is frozen in place. Tears are running down my face for a reason unknown. It has to be because of what’s happening in the kitchen. Out of nowhere, a woman comes out of the kitchen. she sits down in front of me. She’s crying. Telling me how much she loves me and that she’s sorry for everything. Then I hear her muttering a spell I don’t recognize. The next thing I know I’m sitting in the kitchen in my house in Oslo, laughing with my “parents” like what happened before was just a bad dream._

She wakes up with a start. _I haven’t had that dream since the dementor attack. Why now?_ She gets up from her bed. Puts on a sweater and walks out of her room across the hall to Draco’s room. She opens the door quietly. He wakes up by the sudden change in light that came into the room when she opened the door.

“Hey, you. What's happened?” she walks towards his bed and lays down beside him. He places his arms around her and pulls her closer. “Did you have a nightmare?” She nods her head into his bare chest. “You want to talk about it?” Melia doesn’t answer. Draco moves some hair out of her face and kisses her forehead. A few moments later they’re both asleep again, feeling safe in each other’s arms.

  
  



	17. dark magic

fourth year

"Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." 

\- Dumbledore

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****Warning! There’s going to be torturing in this chapter.** **

_I never thought I would ever have to go through the pain I’m feeling now. The pain of knives cutting your skin and the feeling of your intestines twirling inside of you. My screaming stopped a few days ago. It’s not that I don’t feel it anymore, because I do, and it gets worse every time. It’s more that my voice has just broken down. No word or scream will come out of my mouth, but they don’t stop because of that. They try to find other more effective ways of torturing me. Now they have understood that nothing works, because my voice is lost._

_But how did I end up in this position? Let’s recap._

Narcissa is walking up to Melia’s room. Her face had a terrified look. Not because she is afraid for herself, but for _her._ She knocks on the door, but no one answers or opens it. She walks in and finds the bed empty and unmade. She hurries over to Draco’s room where she finds them both lying in his bed. She smiles at the picture in front of her before she remembers why she came there in the first place. Narcissa walks over to them and wakes them up.

“Mom, what’s going on?” he sees the look on her face and knows right away that something has happened.

“Camellia,” she flinches at the use of her name, “You need to put this dress on and come with me, now!” Narcissa hands her the dress. After Melia is done, she’s taken downstairs to the living room. She can’t believe her eyes. There, right in front of her stands Bellatrix Lestrange. Narcissa pushes her forward.

“Hello dearie,” Melia swallows hard, not understanding the situation she’s in. “Now, I have an offer for you,” Bellatrix takes her hand and places her on the sofa while ushering Narcissa out.

“You see, when your mother was pregnant with you, they made you _his._ They made you a weapon for him to use in this war and now that you’re back you have to fulfil that promise your parents made,” Melia gets up from the sofa with a terrified expression.

“What?! I’ll never work for him.”

“No?”

“No, you’ll have to make me!”

“With pleasure,” she says with a large grin on her face. “Crucio.”

Melia falls on the floor screaming. She won’t give in. She can’t give in. Not after everything her parents did to keep her safe. _I can’t give in!_ Another scream is heard through the whole house. Narcissa, Lucius and Draco are sitting up in the library trying to block out the sounds from downstairs.

“Is this why you have been acting so nice this past few days?! For this?!” Draco shouts at his parents. “She’s getting tortured and you’re just sitting here doing nothing?” his voice breaks. Narcissa walks over to him and embraces him in a hug. She comforts him while his tears run down. He tried to act tough in front of them, but he couldn’t with _her_ screams filling his ears.

This kept going for weeks and weeks until one day it stopped. After almost a month of constant torture, she gave in. She couldn’t handle it anymore. The pain was unbearable. She made her stop, saying that she would do it. Get the dark mark and do what the Dark Lord asks of her. Melia passed out right after she agreed on helping the Dark Lord. Draco brought her up to his room, tending to her wounds and making sure she’s alright. He’s now pacing the room worried that she won’t wake up. Narcissa brought in one of the best healers there is to make sure that she will make it.

A week after her agreement, she woke up. Feeling numb all over, she tries to lift herself up from where she’s lying. She looks around the room and notices that she’s in Draco’s room. Then she feels this weird tingling on her left arm. She moves up the sleeve of her sweater to see a Dark Mark. _It’s hideous._ Draco wakes up from beside her and hugs her right away, mumbling all sorts of stuff. Saying he’s so happy that she’s finally awake and about how worried he was and that he’s sorry that he didn’t know. If he knew, he would never have let her come to the manor. He would have taken her far away.

Melia gets up from the bed and walks over to the bathroom leaving the door open. Draco follows her. She looks at herself in the mirror. _I look so skinny._ She has dark marks under her eyes and has lost an unhealthy amount of weight. Melia grabs one of the towels on the sink and tries to wipe off the dark mark in vain. Tears are streaming down her face and she almost falls to the floor, but he catches her right before she hits the ground. There they sit, Melia crying her eyes out while Draco comforts her.

“Shh, it’ll be alright. I’m here for you,” his voice breaks at the end. It’s hard for him to see his best friend lying on the floor crying. She has been through hell. And Draco swore that day that he would keep her safe no matter what.

Because Draco loved Melia. More than he loved himself and would do anything for her.


	18. alice in wonderland

****Warning! This chapter talks about how the main character is unable to eat and her being in a depressive state + a cursing word.** **

Melia is sitting by the window looking out towards the garden. She’s been sitting like this for the past few days. Only getting up to sleep for an hour or two, then going back to the window. Eating is something she hasn’t done either. Both Draco and Narcissa have been trying to get her to do anything else than sit in the window all day and night.

“Give the girl some time, Bella!” someone hisses from outside his bedroom.

“Fine, but I need her soon.”

“The school year is still a month away. You don’t need her until that!” she says before knocking on the door. She walks in and places a glass of pumpkin juice on the small table beside the girl. They have noticed that pumpkin juice is the only thing she’s able to drink without vomiting it up again. That’s why she hasn’t been eating. Because everything she consumes comes out again in a very unpleasant way. She walks out again and leaves the two alone.

Draco has been reading a lot to her lately. Mostly muggle books like Oliver Twist, The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice. Now he is reading her a book Melia got sent in the mail yesterday by Hermione about a girl named Carly who is deaf and is looking for her missing friend. Which is hard when people don’t believe a young girl who can’t hear. She struggles, but eventually finds her friend. The book gave Draco an idea and made one of the house elf’s get him some books on sign language.

Because of all the screaming Melia did, her voice broke and she won’t be able to speak for at least a few months. Just until her voice heals. It was nothing that could get fixed by medicine or spells. It had to heal on its own. Not that she would be speaking a lot if she had her voice, but now she won’t be able to speak to Draco at all.

He moves her chair so that’s it facing him and starts to read the book about sign language. Trying to learn it himself while also trying to show it to Melia. After a few days, she started to participate and learnt the ways of signing different words. Two weeks later they were able to form simple sentences to each other. And today she had her first smile in over a month. Who thought that learning sign language could get her to smile?

She walked down to the kitchen to see if there were some pumpkin juice left in the fridge, but before she was able to get there Bellatrix grabbed her arm and took her to the living room. She sat her down on the sofa and started to explain to her about her first mission for the Dark Lord. Her mission was to help Harry get through the two first tasks of the Triwizard tournament safely so that he can get to the graveyard at the last task without problem. She was told that she would get help by a death eater at school, who she presumed was Barty Crouch jr. She was also told to get to the graveyard herself, that she would know when the time was right.

“Do you understand, dearie?” Melia nods her head. “I didn’t hear you?” _Hear you? You destroyed my fucking voice!_ “You stupid bitch!” Bellatrix lifts her hand as if she’s going to hit her, but no pain comes. She opens her eyes and sees Narcissa holding Bella’s hand.

“You know she has lost her voice! She can’t speak!” Narcissa says angrily at her sister.

“I thought she was just pretending?!”

“No, you destroyed it!” she let’s go of Bella’s hand and looks at Melia, “Go upstairs, dear. I think Draco is looking for you.” Melia almost runs out of the room and up the stairs to his room. She opens the door and closes it quickly behind her. Draco runs to her right away asking what happened. After trying to explain with the signs she has learnt, she falls asleep on the bed in Draco’s arms while he was reading Alice in Wonderland for her.

Melia wishes her adventures here could be as marvellous and enjoyable as Allices’ adventures. The only thing good about this place is Draco and ‘Mione, but what Melia doesn’t understand yet, is that there are so many more people that care for her. Harry and Ron care about her in their own weird way. Molly and Arthur, Remus, Sirius, Blaise. So many people she forgets about because almost half of her life has been a lie.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Melia, Draco we’re going to be late! Hurry up!” Narcissa shouts from downstairs. They both walk down the stairs. Draco in his new suit and Melia in a black dress she got from Nissi the other day.

“You look lovely in that dress, dear. I knew it would fit you perfectly when I picked it out.”

“Thank you,” Melia signs to her. The two children had been learning some signs to Narcissa and Lucius so that she doesn’t have to rely too much on Draco. The girls put their cloaks on before they apparated away.

“Welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Whenever something is written with a line under, it means that someone is using sign language.


	19. the quidditch world cup

Melia and Draco were walking around the camp, looking at things people are selling and other things when they are spotted by the golden trio.

“Melia!” she hears ‘Mione shouting. She looks at Draco who just nods at her before they turn around. Draco places a hand on her lower back as if to show her that he’s here. Hermione hugs her right away before stepping away from her and joining the two boys again.

“How are you?” she places a smile on her face before signing something for Draco to translate.

“She’s been fine and says thank you for all the books she got. She read them all,” the trio looks at them both weird. “Melia has lost her voice. She got a bad cold after we were up north, and her throat needs to heal.” ‘Mione doesn’t believe her and grabs her hand to take her away from Draco for a moment.

“Is he telling the truth? Did something happen when you were at the manor,” Hermione asks in a hushed voice, but loud enough for the four to hear. Melia takes out the small notebook and the pen she had in her pocket and starts writing that nothing happened and that Draco was telling the truth. Melia didn’t want to tell Hermione yet. She wasn’t even ready to talk about it to Draco.

“Are you sure?” She just crosses her arms as a reply. “Fine, but you know you can talk to us, to me, right?” Melia hugs Hermione and that’s a good enough answer for her. They say their goodbyes before they walk back to their tents. When they’re far enough away, Melia lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“You know you have to see them again soon. Every day for a whole year.”

She huffs, “I know.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

As Melia, Draco and Lucius walk to their places, Melia hears someone talking “Blimey Dad, how far up are we?”

“Well put it this way, if it rains... you'll be the first to know.”

“Father, Melia and I are in the minister's box, by personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself,” she punches his arm lightly at that remark. Draco doesn’t even spare her a glance.

“Don't boast Draco. There's no need with these people. Do enjoy yourself won't you. While you can,” Melia looks at them with an apologetic look. Before they're able to walk away, she hears someone shouting her name for the second time that day. She walks back to where they stood before and sees Hermione.

“I didn’t get to tell you earlier, but you look really good today,” Melia mouths a thank you to her before walking away. They get seated in the minister’s box after greeting the minister. Five green and white figures fly through the air on their brooms leaving a coloured trail behind them. A glittering leprechaun appears in the sky and starts dancing. Everyone is excited.

After them comes five red figures, one of them performs a stunt on his broom and one of them appears on the large screen. The crowd begins to chant 'Krum, Krum, Krum' until the announcers start to talk.

“Good evening! It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup. Let the match begin!”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Stay in the tent and don’t leave! Understood!” Melia nods her head.

“Yes, father. You have been through this a million times already.”

Narcissa walks up to her son, “Draco! This is serious, we don’t want you two to get hurt!” Lucius stands beside her.

“There will be two death eaters outside guarding the tent,” Draco was about to argue, but Lucius cuts him off, “it’s for your own safety.”

“Understood,” Melia signs and Draco translates after seeing their confused look. “Be careful, both of you,” Draco translates again. They nod before going outside.

After a few games of cards, one of the two death eaters from outside comes into the tent. He tells them everything went as planned and that they should apparate back to the manor. Melia gives him a stiff nod. She has been working on how to act around death eaters. Trying to act like how Lucius does so that she can get some respect. She wants the others to fear her a little. Not because she likes it, but because then people won’t touch her. She wants to let this summers’ torture to be a one-time thing. So far it has worked.

Melia and Draco meet his parents back at the manor after apparating. Lucius takes Melia to his office where he was explaining how everything went and that they were successful. While she is at the manor, Melia is trying to gather as much information she can to help the Order of The Phoenix later on. That’s what’s keeping her sane through this. Thinking that she will be able to help her friends and Sirius later on. Maybe that will make them forgive her?

A few days later the Malfoys’ and Melia apparate to the station. After saying goodbye to them both, they walk into the train trying to find an empty compartment. They find one empty compartment and sit down. Later Blaise comes in with three other people.

“Hey, guys. How are you?” Blaise asks them when he is seated.

“We’re alright,” Draco answers for both of them while squeezing Melia’s hand.

“Oh, Melia. You probably don’t know the other people here?” she shakes her head no. “This is Pansy Parkinson,” he points at the girl beside him. “And those two are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.” He points at the two boys. She looks at Draco who nods his head.

“It’s nice to meet you!” she signs, and Draco translates. “She says it’s nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	20. slytherin girl

“Go, you have stayed with me for two months this summer. Go be with them and we’ll catch up later.”

“Thank you,” she signs and kisses him on the cheek before running off towards Hermione and the boys.

“How’s it going?” Blaise wiggles his brows. Draco hits him in the stomach.

“You know very well what happened to her this summer.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. How is she?”

“She’s holding up, but what my aunt did is going to haunt her for a long time.”

Blaise thinks for a moment before asking, “Did she, you know…”

“Did she what?”

“Get the mark,” he whispers. Draco just nods. “How did she take it?”

“Not well, she doesn’t remember getting it. She had a breakdown when she saw it for the first time.”

“Do you know what her mission is?”

“No, but I know it has something to do with the tournament.” Blaise looks at him in confusion. “You’ll find out at the feast.” He says before both of them start walking silently to the carriages.

When they arrive at the castle, they see four flying horses flying through the air pulling a carriage coming in to land at Hogwarts. Malia stares at it and starts cheering silently with the people who cheer with sound. Then a large ship emerges from under the water and approaches the castle too. The group of four moves towards the great hall and finds a place at the Gryffindor table and the sorting ceremony starts. After all the first years' names had been shouted, Minerva looks at Albus who gives her a short nod then she shouts out one last name.

“Withlock, Melia,” the hall goes silent. _Why would I be up there again? I did it last year!_ Hermione pushes her up and she starts to walk towards the front. She sits down on the chair and the hat is placed on her head.

“Never have I done this before, but I made a mistake by putting you in Gryffindor…” The sorting hat says, and people start to whisper.

“I have been pondering all year on my decision and found out that I was wrong. Thanks to Albus I’m able to correct my mistake. So, my choice -which I should have told you the first time- is SLYTHERIN.” The whole hall is silent again, processing what they just heard. Then the Slytherin table starts to clap and welcome her. Melia takes a glance towards ‘Mione before walking to where Draco and Blaise are sitting. Some people in her new house congratulate her, but she is still in shock. _Slytherin… I’m in Slytherin?_

“Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen...” he gets cut off by someone running down the hall and whispers something in Dumbledore's ear, then he runs back where he came from.

“So, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Tri-Wizard tournament.” Draco takes his arm around Melia’s shoulders and pushes her closer to him. She places her head on his shoulder and takes a deep breath. She had completely forgotten about her mission. A lot of other things have happened since she was told about it and it just slipped through her mind. Blaise looks at her with sympathy filled in his eyes.

“Now for those of you who do not know, the tri-wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint-hearted, but more of that later.

“For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress Madame Maxime.”

A group of girls dressed in blue dance up the aisle and release butterflies into the air. Then three more people come behind them. The smallest girl does a few acrobatic stunts while the two other walks after her. One of them is almost as big as Hagrid, if not bigger.

“Blimey, that's one big woman,” someone from the Gryffindor table says, which earns him a few laughs.

“And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the high master Igor Karkaroff.”

A series of older boys walk up the aisle brandishing bo staffs, twirling them around and periodically stabbing them into the ground with a spark effect. Then people start noticing that Viktor Krum, one of the best seekers in the world, is one of the students from Durmstrang. Igor locks eyes with Melia and in his eyes, you can see a small hint of fear. Albus and Igor embrace each other before he starts to talk again.

“I would like to say a few words more words. Eternal glory, that is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks.

“For this reason, the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this, we have the head of the department of international magic cooperation Mister Bartimus Crouch.”

Before he’s able to say anything, the ceiling starts thundering and rain begins leaking through the roof and screams break out. A strange man stands in the doorway, he casts some magic upwards and seals the roof. Peace is restored. Albus moves towards the man.

“My dear old friend, thanks for coming.”

“That stupid roof,” he says and takes out something, drinking it. Then Bartimus Crouch moves forward.

“After much deliberation, the ministry has concluded that for their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the tri-wizard tournament. This decision is final,” people start to shout and riot.

“Silence!” Albus shouts then he casts magic over a box which melds into a goblet containing a blue flame.

“The goblet of fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament merely writes their name upon a piece of parchment and throws it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if chosen there's no turning back. As from this moment the tri-wizard tournament has begun.”

_From this moment my mission has begun…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	21. tickle the pear

After the feast, everyone started going back to their common rooms. Melia didn’t eat much given the circumstances. Draco was still holding a hand around her, supporting her. When they arrived in the common room, a smile appeared on her face. She had never thought that the Slytherin common room would look this good. It was nothing like in the films.

There were four sofas in the middle all facing towards the walls and two of those walls were fireplaces. In the middle of those four sofas were a table with chairs. To the left when you come into the room is a staircase that leads up to the prefect’s bedrooms and the two staircases in the back of the room lead to the other bedrooms. Girls on the right and boys on the left. One thing that was the same as in the films was the big windows that showed out to the black lake.

“Who thought that our common room would bring a smile to your face?” Draco says from beside her.

“It’s completely different from the films!”

“Really?” he smirks, “Better than in the films?”

“Yes, definitely!” He chuckles. Then suddenly someone grabs her arm and hauls her to the girls’ bedrooms.

“Come on, I’ll show you the dorms,” Draco was about to object, but Pansy cut him off, “You’ll get her back tomorrow morning.” Before Melia herself is able to object, they’re already in the dorm room. The dorm had four-poster beds in them and had green curtains. It was very different from the Gryffindor ones. _Wow, green looks so much better than the red in the Gryffindor dorms._

“Everyone, this is Camellia,-” she flinches without noticing herself, but the other three does. “I’m sorry, Melia Withlock.” Melia waves at them and mouths ‘hey’.

“That girl over there is Millicent Bulstrode,” she points to a girl with mid-length black hair. She was a little chubbier than the other girls. Then she points at a girl with long brown hair and beautiful green eyes. “And that girl over there is Daphne Greengrass, and you already know me,” Melia nods her head.

“You’re mute, right?” she looks at Daphne with wide eyes. She was so happy that someone in her dorm could sign so that she didn’t have to write everything down all the time. “My grandmother was deaf.”

“Thank god someone here can sign. It’s hard to rely on Draco all the time.” Daphne chuckles at that. Pansy leaves Melia’s side and sits down on her bed.

“Stop doing that, I feel like you’re having secrets.” Daphne puts her hands on her hips and turns around facing Pansy. “She’s mute, not deaf.” She just rolls her eyes and the two of them start arguing. While they do that, Melia walks over to the only empty bed and looks through her trunk and finds her pyjamas. A nightgown that goes right over the knee and a sweater to hide her mark. After dressing and brushing her teeth she goes over to her bed again.

The others were also starting to go to bed and about an hour later all four girls are in bed, but Melia is unable to sleep. After a while, she gives up. She takes out a pen and a small notebook before walking out of the room quietly, careful not to wake the others. She walks until she finds the painting she’s looking for. When she tickled the pear, the painting opened and revealed the kitchen. Melia takes out her pen and notebook and starts writing a small note before giving it to one of the house-elves.

“Here you go, mistress,” she nods gratefully at him and mouths a thank you. Then she walks to one of the chairs to drink her pumpkin juice. Melia is still not able to eat as normal but is able to eat a few meals. Mostly just drinking a lot of juice.

When she is done drinking, she tests out a spell she had been working on. She remembers from one of the marvel movies, dr Strange made Thor’s beer refill itself. Melia took one of the pumpkin juice boxes and tried over and over again. After an hour she made it! _Yes, finally!_ Her spell worked! She then put it in her dimensional pockets. That’s another thing she got from the Marvel films, but her pockets are limited and can only fit about 5 things. She can make them appear in her hand without using a wand and make them go back in the pockets again. After everything that has happened lately, Melia has found joy in learning new spells. Both existing spells and non-existing spells. The only ones she has made so far are the pockets spell and the juice box that refills itself.

When the clock ticks 2 am, she walks back towards the common room and walks up to the dorm, trying not to wake the girls.

  
  



	22. the unforgivable curses

****Warning! Just as the chapter is called, they are going to be talking about the unforgivable curses. The chapter includes the control, torture and killing off the spider.** **

“Alastor Moody,” he writes his name on the board. “Ministry malcontent. And your new defence against the dark arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions? When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?”

Hermione raises her hand from beside Melia, “Three sir.”

“And they are so named?”

“Because they are unforgivable. Use of any one of them will...” she gets cut off.

“Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different! You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr Finnigan!”

Finnigan takes the gum back, “Aw no way, the old codger can see out the back of his head.” Mad-Eye throws the chalk across the room in anger.

“So, which curse shall we see first? WEASLEY!” Ron gets up from his chair, almost shaking from nervousness.

“Yes…”

“Give us a curse.”

“Well, my dad did tell me about one... The imperious curse.”

“Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why.”

Mad-Eye pops open a jar with a spider in it. With his wand, he sends it around the class, “If she bites… she’s lethal,” Draco laughs and the spider gets sent towards him and he starts screaming. Melia doesn’t even look his way. She has seen this before many times anyways. She’s dreading the next curse.

“Talented isn't she? What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window? Drown herself?” Mad-Eye has the spider over a bucket of water, it's wriggling. “Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse.” _I wish that was my case…_ “But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars? Another.. another.. Come on come on. Longbottom is it? Up.”

He gets up from the chair, just as nervous as Ron was earlier, “There's the um... The cruciatus curse.” Melia flinches at the name of it.

“Correct! Correct! Particularly nasty. The torture curse.” Mad-Eye places the spider down on Neville’s desk and starts to torture it with magic. The spider squeals and both Melia and Neville are having a hard time. Hermione notices this.

“Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering them, stop it!” she souths at him. Draco looks at Melia wishing he was sitting beside her, but she insisted on sitting with Hermione. Mad-Eye stops and picks up the spider. He places it on Melia and Hermione’s desk.

“Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse Miss Granger,” she shakes her head, no. “What about you Miss Withlock?” Melia doesn’t say anything, she just looks at the spider with sorrow in her eyes. _I’m sorry you had to go through what I went through._ Then a green light erupts from Mad-Eye’s wand and the spider is dead. A tear runs down Melia’s cheek, which she wipes away fast.

“The killing curse. Only one person is known to have survived it. And he's sitting in this room,” he approaches Harry's desk and takes a drink. The class is dismissed, but Melia is asked to wait behind. Mad-Eye speaks to Neville before talking to her. Both Hermione and Draco said that they would wait, but she said it’s fine and that they can just go. Hermione went, but Draco was a little harder to pursue. He eventually left. When Neville walked out she gave him a smile of sympathy, then she walked into the classroom. Mad-Eye or should I say Crouch jr.? She walks to the front where he is standing and puts on her death eater face.

“His name has been placed in the Goblet. Everything is working so far.” Melia looks at him before nodding her head, then she just stares at him waiting for him to say more which he doesn’t. She walks towards the door but gets stopped by his voice.

“You’re just going to walk away?!” she smirks at him and walks out. When she’s completely out of sight, she collapses on one of the walls. That took a lot of energy out of her. _God, this is going to be a long year…_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

People are sitting in the great hall looking at the students who are putting their names in the Goblet. Two of the people sitting there were Melia and Hermione. Melia is sitting one step down from Hermione and is leaning on ‘Mione’s legs with closed eyes. Her sleep gets interrupted by a group of Hufflepuff boys. One of them, Cedric, puts his name in. Ron and Harry come into the room and sit beside the two girls.

Ron then speaks up, “Eternal glory, be brilliant wouldn't it? In three years from now, we'll be old enough to be chosen.”

“Yeah well rather you than me,” he answers, then the twins come up cheering.

George waves his hands as to silence the hall, “thank you thank you, well lads we've done it.”

“Cooked it up just this morning.” Fred puts in.

“It's not going to work,” ‘Mione says in a sing-song voice and Melia nods in agreement.

“Oh yeah? And why's that Granger, Withlock?”

“You see this? This is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself.”

“So?” they say in unison.

“So a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion.”

“That's why it's so brilliant.”

“Ready Fred?”

“Ready George?”

They jump inside the age line and cheer. They put their names in the flame and do a high-five. The flame fires up and they're flung across the room onto the floor. When they get up, they have full heads of grey hair and beards. They roll around fighting on the floor and the crowd cheers. The room suddenly becomes silent as Viktor Krum walks in and puts his name in the flame. He looks at Hermione and winks, she smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	23. harry potter?

Dumbledore stands in the front, “Sit down, please. And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection!”

Dumbledore approaches the blue flame and it glows red. A name comes out. Everyone looks on anxiously.

“The Durmstrang champion is ... Viktor Krum!” The Durmstrang crowd cheer and Krum moves to the front, shaking Dumbledore’s hand before walking down to the champions room. Then another name comes out.

“The champion from Beauxbatons... Fleur Delacour,” the Beauxbatons girls cheer as Fleur walks up, doing the same as Krum before her. Then the last name comes out. Or so everybody thought.

“The Hogwarts champion... Cedric Diggory.” Hogwarts pupils cheer as Cedric takes the stage. He does the same as the two before him and walks off.

“Excellent! We now have our three champions! But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory the tri-wizard cup!” People cheer, but then the goblet glows red once more and another name flies out. Dumbledore takes it and reads...

“Harry Potter. Harry Potter?” everyone is confused by Dumbledore’s words, everyone except Melia and Mad-Eye. Dumbledore shouts his name once more. “Harry Potter!”

Hermione pushes him up besides Melia, “Go on Harry. Harry for goodness sake,” he slowly walks up. Dumbledore gives him the paper. Students in the crowd shout out.

 ** **“**** He's a cheat! He's not even seventeen yet!” Harry looks at the teachers by the door nervously before he’s out of sight. Mad-Eye looks over to Melia and gives her a quick nod before following the others. Then Ron speaks up.

“I can’t believe this, that git!” he says and walks away. Hermione nudges Melia’s shoulder.

“Did you know that this would happen? Like, you know, from the films,” she just nods.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia and Draco are sitting in the common room. Melia’s head is on his lap, her eyes closed. She’s still finding it hard to sleep at night and sleeps whenever she gets the time too. Like now. Draco is reading the second book of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘Through a Looking Glass’, since they didn’t have the time to read it in the summer. Their silence gets broken by Blaise sitting down on the armchair beside Draco.

“I can’t believe it. Potter just loves to be in the spotlight, doesn’t he?”

Draco places his book down. “Well, he is Potter,” he points out. Blaise notices the change in Melia’s expression.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Melia opens her eyes and sits up looking into Blaise’s eyes with her death eater face. “That’s what your mission is?” She looks over at Draco, she didn’t know that he knew. He raises his arms in surrender.

“He knows because of his family. His mother is dating a death eater and he overheard one of their conversations. That’s how he found out,” she looks at him. “Don’t worry, you can trust him. He hasn’t told anyone, has he?” she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“Fine. Now tell him to stop interrupting my sleep,” he chuckles and pushes the blanket over her when she’s laid down again.

“What did she say? Is she going to kill me or something?” Before Draco is able to answer she takes his book from him and throws it at Blaise.

“She told me to tell you to stop interrupting her sleep,” Blaise makes an ‘o’ shape with his mouth. “And I was reading that!” she giggles lightly.

A few days later at breakfast, Melia is leaning on Draco’s shoulder with her eyes closed. She didn’t get much sleep that night either, just like every other night. Her sleep gets disturbed by someone tapping her shoulder. She looks to her side where Pansy’s sitting, who points to the Gryffindor table where Hermione is trying to come in contact with her.

‘Are you alright?’ she mouths. Melia just nods at her. ‘What is going on with you? Did something happen during the summer break?’ Melia thinks before answering.

“Bellatrix…” she signs. Melia knows Hermione doesn't understand sign language and by the time she’s able to figure out what she is signing, maybe Melia will be ready to talk about it.

Draco looks at her with wide eyes, “Melia!” The others look at them, wondering what she signed. She gets up from the bench. “Let’s go.” He nods at her and they begin walking towards their first class of the morning, potions.

Melia, Draco, Pansy and Blaise were one of the first people to arrive in class that day. Which made Snape give them 5 points each since it’s the first time they had ever arrived on time. After everyone was seated, he started his lesson. Well, almost everyone.

“Today we are going to be brewing the Calming Draught. Who can-” suddenly Harry comes running in. Late as always. If gaze could kill, he would be lying on the floor now.

“Mister Potter, detention for being late... again,” Harry pouts. “Just because you are one of the champions, doesn’t mean that you can come to my classes late!” Some of the Slytherins laugh at Snape’s remark.

“I wasn-'' he starts, but gets cut off. “As I was saying. Who can tell me what the Calming Draught is?” Hermione’s hand shoots up. He ignores her and looks at Melia instead.

“What about you, Miss Withlock?” before she is even able to react, Pansy answers for her.

“A Calming Draught is a potion that is used to calm a person down after they have suffered a shock, trauma, or emotional outburst.” Snape sneers at her, but she continues, “The ingredients are Lavender, Crocodile heart and peppermint, and the colour of the potion is blue.”

“I didn’t know your name was Withlock, Miss Parkinson.” Snape continues his lesson and Melia mouths a thank you to Pansy while Draco takes her hand and squeezes it. She looks at him with a reassuring smile that says she’s fine. Then he walks over to get the ingredients. They were able to make the potion perfect and got some house points from Snape. _He really loves his house over everyone else. Hermione also made a perfect one, but she didn’t get points._ When class was over Melia was asked to stay behind.

After Severus made sure everyone had left, he went up to Melia. He studied her face a little before starting.

“What happened this summer?” she doesn’t answer so he continues. “I know something must have happened. You’re talking way less than before and it can’t be temporary, because then you wouldn’t have learned sign language with Draco. So, I’m asking again. What happened?”

Melia looks down to her arms not knowing what to say. That’s when he notices it. Something on her left arm. He grabs her arm and she tries to protest. “Please don’t,” she whispers. Her voice has become better over the past few weeks and she’s able to whisper things. Severus doesn’t listen to her and grabs the end of her sweater sleeve and pulls it up. She looks away with a tear rolling down her cheek, not wanting to look at it. Severus moves his finger over it to check if it’s real. He looks up at her and sees that this wasn’t her choice judging by her expression.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers as she pulls her hand back and runs out of the classroom, leaving Severus to wonder even more what happened at the Manor. ‘A dark mark’ he thought. Draco was running after her and finally caught up to her when they arrived at the Whomping Willow. She immobilizes it right away and goes into the crack at the bottom, not stopping until she reaches the room she passed out in last school year. Draco looks around, not believing this has been her the whole time.

“Is this…” he starts, “The Whomping Willow,” she whispers and looks him in the eyes before continuing. “He knows, Draco. Severus knows that I’m a Death Eater. He saw the mark and who knows what he’ll do?! What Dumbledore will do?!” she starts coughing because of her broken voice. Draco moves closer to her and hugs her.

“I don’t know, love. We just have to wait and see. I’m sorry.” He dries her cheeks and gives her a reassuring smile before walking back to the castle trying not to be too late for their next class.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	24. a ghostly friend

Helena was looking down at the girl, smiling. Melia wanted to get her mind off things and went to Helena for company. Ever since her first year at Hogwarts, she had been visiting her, sitting with her in the corridor. Sometimes they would talk and laugh, but today they decided to read. Since Melia’s voice wasn’t that good yet, Helena offered to read it out loud instead of her. After some time, a few footsteps could be heard. Melia had met Luna a few times here and was expecting her. She was about to meet her silver eyes, but instead, she met a pair of hazel eyes.

“Hey, Melia.”

“Neville? What can I do for you?” she says with a forced smile on her face. Helena had already left when she noticed the person coming wasn’t Luna.

“It’s about that lesson with Mad-Eye. About the unforgivable curses.”

Her face falters, “What about them?”

“I noticed how you also were bothered by the second one. The Cruciatus Curse, “she flinches by its name. “It has been used on you, hasn’t it? I see the same look in your eyes as in my parents.”

She tries to walk away, “You don’t know anything.” Before she’s able to walk away, Neville takes her arm with a pleading look, “Please.” She turned around facing him.

“What can you do? What’s happened has happened. You can’t take that away.”

“No, but I can help take some weight off your shoulders. You don’t have to bear this alone.”

“Alone? I have people.”

“Like who? Draco? This must have happened at his house, seeing that you went to him this summer,” she opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. “And I bet you haven’t told Hermione yet, or Harry or Ron.”

“I-” her voice breaks as tears start to run down her face. “Let me help you. Let me support you through this. An outside helper.”

“I’m not ready, I’m sorry,” she runs out and wipes her eyes, not wanting anyone to see her in this state. She arrives outside the library. She stands there looking inside, but not moving. Trapped in her own thoughts. _Did I make it that obvious or is it just because Neville has seen the signs too much with his parents, that he just knows?_ A few moments later someone stands beside her.

“You want to study with me?” she looks at him about to answer, but he’s faster. “Just study and if you want, then we can talk later. Okay?” Melia nods her head and follows him inside. They go over to one of the empty tables and start working on Herbology. She’s quite fond of the subject, but she's not that good at it. Luckily for her, Neville is amazing at the subject and helped her gladly.

A few nights later, Melia went to Mad-Eye’s office waiting to hear what he had to say. It was way past curfew, which means that whatever he was going to tell her was important for other people not to hear. Melia’s voice has become much better lately but comes out hoarse when she speaks. And it hurts if she speaks too much at one time.

“Dragons, that’s the first task,” he tells her. Melia knew this because of what she remembers from the films but waited for him to tell her so that the story goes the way it’s supposed to go.

“We shouldn’t tell Harry in person. Someone else should tell him. No, show him.”

“That oaf, Hagrid. Aren’t they close?”

“Yes, that could work. I’ll go to him tomorrow and work my magic.” Mad-Eye gives her a displeased look. “What? You don’t think I can do it?” He was going to reply, but then the chest by the door started to wiggle and something like a scream came from inside the box. Melia points at it with a questioning look.

“The real Alastor, but that doesn’t matter. And that wasn’t what I meant. I have heard about how talented you are at magic.” Melia smirks at him. “Go, and tell me when it’s done.”

She looks at him and gets up from the chair, “Yes, Father!” she smirks again and walks away.

“Why you!” she walks out of the room. “Hey, come back here!” He ran after her, but she had already left the room. She walked until she had reached the Owlery. She needed time to think. So much is happening right now, and people are expecting so much from her. Lucius, Narcissa, The Dark Lord, Bellatrix. It’s almost too much to handle.

 _I wish I was back in Norway. Getting ignored at school or called names. Not having to worry about anyone else than myself and my family. I know that sounds egoistic, but I don’t know if I can live this life I’m living. Working for Voldemort._ She takes a deep breath before deciding to write a letter.

_‘Dear Padfoot,_

_How has your summer been? Have you found a place where you can be safe? I hope so, if not then I hope your parents are well… Anyways. My summer at Malfoy Manor started great, but then someone suddenly decided to show up. Your cousin. Then we went to the Quidditch World Cup! Too bad it got vandalized at the end, but I was safe with Draco, so everything was alright in my case._

_When we got back to school, I was sorted again. I’m now in Slytherin. The sorting hat said that he made a mistake and should have put me there the first time. I was a little scared when he said that, but almost everyone congratulated me! And I knew Draco and Blaise already, but it’s a little hard to adjust to. Sometimes I walk towards the Gryffindor common room because I forget that I’m in Slytherin._

_I’m sorry I didn’t send you a letter earlier. I should have, but a lot has happened and so much that I’m not ready to talk about or write about. But don’t worry about me. I’m doing alright and I have friends who support me, so it’s fine._

_I don’t think I have anything else to write about now, but I hope I get to see you soon._

_Love Sugar’_

She folds together the letter and puts it in an envelope. _Should I send it?_ She thinks to herself. She ponders for some time, then her owl, Diana, snatches the letter and flies away.

“No, Diana! I wasn’t going to send it!” but the owl had already flown away. “Damn it!” She hits into the air before walking to the common room. She sits down on one of the sofas with a loud huff. Then a young girl comes out from the prefect’s bedrooms and sits down in the armchair on Melia’s far left. Melia looks at her and smiles at her. She was about to speak when the girl cut her off.

“Why aren’t you asleep?” Melia looks at her with wide eyes before her expression turns into a wide smile.

“You know sign language?”

“Yes, my mother is deaf.” Melia makes an ‘o’ sound before asking her why she came out of the prefect’s bedrooms’. She’s way too young to be a prefect. Apparently, her older sister is the current prefect. She had trouble sleeping so she went to her and was on her way back to her own dorm. They talked for a while when Draco suddenly came down, walked over to Melia and kissed her on her head.

“Why are you still awake? It’s way past midnight,” she looks at him and starts signing.

“I couldn’t sleep and then I met her,” she points at the little girl. “Wait, that reminds me. I never got your name!” the girl giggles at her.

“My name is Rosie Turner, first year.” Melia gives her a genuine smile.

“Nice to meet you, Rosie. My name is Melia Withlock,” then she points at Draco. “And this is Draco Malfoy.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” he says with one of his genuine smiles that he only gives to Melia. “How come you know sign language?”

“My mother is deaf,” he makes the same reaction as Melia.

“Well, both of you should get to bed. There’s school tomorrow,” he points out and Rosie says goodbye to them both before going to the girls' dorms.

“You can sleep with me tonight if you’re having trouble sleeping,” she looks at him. “But-” “No buts. It’s not like we’re going to do anything. The boys won’t mind.” Melia agrees and they go up to his dorm, which he shares with Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. They got to the bed and Melia put her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat. He places his arms around her and kisses her forehead.

“Good night, darling.”

“Good night, love.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia is on her way to Hagrid’s hut. She needed to tell him about the dragons and get him to show it to Harry. Mad-Eye gave her a “script” so that everything went as planned. Not that she needed it. She knows what to do and how to do it. When she knocks on the door, Hagrid opens it with a smile and invites her in. He places a cup of tea in front of her.

“So, what can I do for you, Melia?”

“I need your help with something.”

“I don’t know if I can be of much help.”

“Oh, you can,” she points her wand at him. “Imperio.” Melia gives him instructions before finishing off her tea and walking to the Great Hall where dinner is going to be served soon. She looks to the front where the teachers are sitting and gives a short nod towards Mad-Eye before sitting down beside Draco.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” he understands right away and drops the subject.

  
  



	25. padfoot

_‘Dear Sugar,_

_It’s so good to be hearing from you again. I was beginning to get a little worried. Harry told me about you being in Slytherin, but as long as you’re happy with it then it’s alright with me. And I have found a place. My parents liked that house._

_Now, I understand if you’re not ready to talk or write about it, but I would really like to know what happened with my cousin. That woman is not well in her head and if she did something then I would like to know what!_

_It’s good that nothing happened to you at the Quidditch World Cup. I heard about what happened and it’s good that Harry made it out alright too._

_It’s alright that you didn’t write to me before this. I know you had your reasons. And I will always worry about you, so you don’t have to tell me to don’t. Because I will. I also hope I get to see you soon._

_Love Padfoot’_

Melia gets up from her bed and goes to the desk to write a reply. Daphne suddenly comes up behind her.

“Who was the letter from?”

“No one you know off,”

“Ooh, a lover?”

“She’s with Draco, Daph,” Pansy says from her bed. Melia turns to her.

“What, I’m not!” she signs quickly.

“She says they’re not,” Daphne translates. “That’s bull. You both hang over each other all the time.”

Pansy moves over so that she stands beside Daphne. “And a few nights ago, you weren’t in your bed and in the morning you came out of the boys' dorm… with Draco.”

“It’s not like I was sleeping with him in his dorm,” she looks at Daphne who gladly translates, then she continues knowing that she will be translating. “I couldn’t sleep, and he offered for me to sleep in his bed. That’s it, just sleep. We haven’t even kissed or talked about having a relationship like that.”

“You haven’t kissed yet?!” they say in unison. Millicent wakes up by all the shouting.

“Who hasn't kissed yet?” she asks in confusion. “Draco and Melia.”

“You haven’t kissed yet?”

“No, should we have?” Pansy grabs her hand and moves her over to Daphnes’ bed. They all started with giving her relationship advice, but in the end, it ended up with Pansy and Daphne arguing again. They always argue over small things. Whether it’s about using too much time in the bathroom or about the clothes lying on the floor or other meaningless things. Melia just laughs at them and moves over to her desk again to write back to Sirius.

She thought long and hard on whether not telling him or not. _What if he stops talking to me or gets me sent to Azkaban? No, he wouldn’t. Right?_ After some time, she started writing it down. Not to send it, yet. She would write it and send it when she was ready.

_‘Padfoot,_

_This summer started great as I wrote before. We ate amazing dinners and me and Draco spent a lot of time in the library. (Their library is huge!) Draco arranged a picnic one day and we ate so much more food than we should have, and he read me my favourite muggle book, Oliver Twist. It was so fun. They made me feel so welcomed and they took care of me._

_Then one morning Narcissa came into my room and told me to wear a dress she had with her. I dressed and went downstairs with her. When I came downstairs, Bellatrix was standing in the living room. She said she had an offer for me and that I had to fulfil what my parents promised the Dark Lord. Me being a weapon he could use. I refused and told her that she would have to make me. Which she did. She tortured me for a month before… before I gave in. I couldn’t handle the pain anymore and passed out right after I agreed. When I woke up again a week later, I had a dark mark. I don’t remember getting it or how, but I did._

_I was very depressed after that, but both Draco and Narcissa helped me. I wasn’t able to sleep, which I still can’t, and all the food I ate came up again. Which it also still does, but not as severe as it was in the summer. For some reason, pumpkin juice is the only thing I can drink without it coming up again. Draco read me books that Hermione had sent me and got an idea from one of them._

_Because of all the screaming I did, my voice broke and it needs time to heal. I can speak a little now, but not that much without it hurting. So, Draco and I have been learning sign language so that I don’t have to write things down all the time. And learning that is what made me smile again and act more normal. I don’t know why, but it was good to “talk” again._

_Now I have gotten this stupid mission I have to do. It’s hard, but I can’t go through what happened this summer happen again. I can’t. I won’t tell you about it though. At the world cup, me and Draco stayed in the tent. We were there but didn’t do anything. We left after everything was done. So at least I’m not to blame for what happened there. Well, I’m partly to blame, I guess. I’m one of them…_

_I hope you’ll forgive me one day and I’m sorry._

_Sugar’_

Melia folds the letter and places it in an envelope on the desk. Then she goes to the bathroom to make herself ready for the school day. When she comes out again, she notices that the letter is gone. Melia walks over to her desk starting to look for it. Daphne comes up behind her.

“Are you looking for the letter?” Melia nods her head. “Oh, Pansy gave it to your bird. We thought that’s why she came here.”

“What?! I wasn’t going to send it.”

“Well, no taking it back now.” Melia begins to breathe heavily. _No, no, no…_ She runs to the window to see if Diana is not far away so that she can get her back, but the bird is long gone. _No, I’m not ready to tell anyone._ She falls down on the floor, having a small mental breakdown. Daphne rushed over to her and soothes her. Millicent comes out of the bathroom and sees what is happening in front of her and rushes over to them.

“What happened?” she says with worry in her voice. “Just, go get Draco. Now!” Millicent runs out of the room and a few moments later she and Draco come into the room. He lifts her up and moves her over to her bed. After she had calmed down a little, he asked her.

“What happened, darling?”

“He knows,” she whispers. “I wrote a letter about what happened at the manor, not meaning to send it, but Pansy thought that I was going to send it and gave it to Diana. He’s going to hate me.” Melia starts to cry again, and Draco pulls her closer.

“Who, Melia? Who did you send it to?”

“Sirius.”

He just hugs her harder. He knows how much he means to her. They got this special bond last year and she got hurt trying to prove that he’s innocent.

“We’ll cover for you today,” Daphne says.

Draco looks at her, “Thank you.” She smiles at him before walking to class.


	26. november 11th

The Order of the Phoenix was sitting in 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius had called for a meeting a late November night. The ones present at this meeting was Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Severus, Minerva and Dumbledore.

"I got a letter a few days ago..." he takes a deep breath before continuing. "From Melia."

Molly looks at him with worry in her eyes. If he called in a meeting for this, then it must be something important, "What did it say?" he passes her the letter.

" _This summer started great, we ate amazing dinners and read lots of books... I felt welcomed... Then Bellatrix showed up..."_ everyone looked at her to see if they heard right. _"She said I had to for fill a promise my parents made... I refused and said she would have to make me... which she did... after one month of torture, I gave in... I had a Dark Mark when I woke up a week later... I'm not able to sleep or eat... and my voice is destroyed... Now I have this stupid mission to do"_

"Mission? Does it say anything about what?" Minerva asks.

"No, the last thing she wrote was that she hopes I can forgive her one day and that she's sorry," Sirius answers with sorrow and anger in his voice. Not anger for her, but for the Malfoy's and his cousin.

Severus sits back in his chair, "I knew about this..."

Everyone looks at him with surprise. "You knew and didn't say anything? How long have you known?" Sirius raises from his chair in anger.

"Only a few weeks. One day after class I told her to stay behind. I asked her what happened at the Manor, but she didn't reply. Then I saw it. The mark."

"So, it's true then. She's a Death Eater now?"

"Yes, Molly. I'm afraid so, but the fact that she waited for a month before saying yes, makes me a little proud," they look at him. "She didn't give up right away, she fought." They all nod in agreement.

"What are we going to do now?" Kingsley asks.

Dumbledore moves forwards in his chair and places his arms on the table, "Nothing."

"What?!" They say in unison.

"Sirius keep sending her letters. Maybe she'll tell you when she's ready. That's the only thing we can do right now."

"But-" Sirius cuts them off. "I agree."

After a few minutes, everyone has left except Molly and Artur. Sirius gets up from his chair to make some tea for the three of them. They talk for a while about Melia and her situation. Before they're able to leave, Sirius stops them.

"Hey, Arthur?"

"Yes?"

"Could you do something for me?"

"Depends..."

"Could you get some muggle books for me?"

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Back at Hogwarts, Draco is leading Melia to the common room, hands over her eyes.

"Draco," she whispers.

"We're nearly there. Just be patient."

Draco says the password and they walk inside. He removes his hands to revel all the people standing there.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" all of them shouts. Pansy, Millicent and Daphne runs up to her and gives her a big hug. Then Rosie also comes up to her and hugs her. Melia sits down on her knees opening the gift Rosie brought. She opened it and sees one of the books she has been wanting for a long time. Wizard of Oz

"How did you know?" she points at Draco who gives them a mischievous smirk. Then he hauls her up on her feet and brings her over to the middle of the room where a cake is placed. She moves over to it and wishes something before blowing the candles out. Everyone cheers. Some music starts and everyone is having a great time.

Later on, Melia and Draco go up to the Astronomy Tower. He said that he had a gift for her but wanted to give it in private. They walk hand in hand towards the tower, trying not the get caught by Filch or his cat. When they arrive at the tower, they lean on the railing looking out at the beautiful view. Draco takes off his jacket and puts it over her shoulders. She smiles at him gratefully and leans on his shoulder. He kisses her head.

They stand like that for some time until Draco turns her around. They stare into each other's eyes. He cups her cheeks and moves closer to her until their lips meet. She kisses him back right away. They both move in sync and Melia take her arms around his shoulders. They break apart, foreheads sticking together.

"That's why you wanted to give it in private, ferret boy?" she whispers.

He chuckles, "You heard about that?"

"Yes, and it was hilarious."

"Oh, shut up," he moves one hand to her lower back and their lips meet once more. She smiles into the kiss, _best birthday gift ever._


	27. the first task

Hermione and Harry are sitting in the library the day before the first task. Harry is still trying to learn the Accio spell and Hermione is trying to find out what Melia signed to her a few weeks ago but haven’t been able to figure it out yet. She lets out a loud groan.

“You’re still working on what Melia signed?”

“Yes, and I can’t figure it out!”

He chuckles, “You know, Shawn McClain knows sign language. Why don’t you ask him?”

She hits him lightly on his arm, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“I didn’t think of it before now, and I didn’t know until this morning.”

“Oh…”

“Can you help me with the spell now?”

“Yes, sorry.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia and the others are sitting on the Slytherin table eating breakfast. It’s the day of the first task today and Melia can’t stop fidgeting. She knows he’s going to be alright but can’t stop worrying regardless. Draco moves her face towards him and kisses her on the lips. She melts into the kiss.

“Stop worrying, he’ll be fine,” she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“I know,” she whispers. He gets up from the bench. “I’ll see you later, love,” he kisses her on the head before walking away. The girls in front of her moves closer.

“When did that happen?” Millicent and Daphne say in unison.

“Did what happen?” she says oblivious.

“The kiss, you dumbass,” Pansy says.

“Oh, since that birthday party you through me,”

“And you didn’t tell us?! You kept it for that long?”

“Sorry,” she whispers.

“We need to know all the details!”

“I’m sorry guys, but I need to go. I’ll see you later,” she hears them shouting after her but ignores them. Melia goes over to the Gryffindor table and sits down beside ‘Mione. The two of them say hello to her. They talk for some time until Harry has to leave to get ready. Hermione and Melia decide then to walk towards the arena. They find a place to sit and Hermione goes to say good luck to Harry. Draco comes and sits down beside her. He moves her hand up to his mouth and kisses it. Trying to calm her nerves.

After some time, Hermione comes back and the cannon fires. First out is Cedric. He used a transfiguration spell to change a rock into a dog to distract the dragon. The dragon took the bait, and Cedric went for the Golden Egg. Cedric retrieved the egg and passed the task.

The next was Fleur. She enchanted the dragon to sleep and retrieved the egg. After that came Krum, He used the Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon and retrieve his egg. He lost a few points since the dragon destroyed half of the real egg.

Then Harry came as the last champion. He enters the rocky arena and the crowd is cheering his name. He sees the golden egg sitting alone, he makes a run for it, but the dragon appears. Harry's forced to retreat behind a rock as the dragon flames him. He stumbles and falls around the arena.

Hermione stands up, “Your wand Harry! Your wand!” Melia squeezes Dracos’ hand.

Harry summons a broom. He jumps on and flies off, the dragon gives chase. The dragon bursts through the crowd and they look stunned. The crowd is mostly silent, waiting for him to come back. A few minutes later he comes flying towards the arena and the crowd erupts. He goes straight for the golden egg. Melia and Hermione jump in excitement and she hugs Draco. Then the two girls together with Ron walk over to the tent where Harry is.

Ron moves towards him first, “I reckon you'd have to be barking mad to put your own name in the goblet of fire.”

“Caught on, have you. Took you long enough.”

“Wasn't just me who thought you'd done it. Everyone was saying it behind your back.”

“Brilliant. That makes me feel loads better.”

“At least I warned you about the dragons.”

“Hagrid warned me about the dragons.”

“Yes, but then he told me, and I told Hermione that Seamus told me that Parvati told Dean that Hagrid was looking for you. Seamus never actually told me anything, so it was really me all along. I thought you'd be alright, you know, after you figured that out.”

“Who could possibly figure that out? That's completely mental.”

“Yeah it is, isn't it. Suppose I was a bit distraught.”

“Boys,” Melia lets out a small chuckle before all four hugs each other.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Oh, look mums’ sent me something... Mum sent me a dress??” Melia sits down on the Gryffindor table.

Harry laughs, “Well it does match your eyes. Is there a bonnet?”

“Ginny these must be for you.”

Her face shows pure disgust, “I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly.” Melia and Hermione laugh.

“What are you two on about?”

Hermione laughs some more before answering, “They're not for Ginny they're for you! Dress robes.”

“Dress robes? for what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	28. ‘mione knows

“The yule ball has been a tradition of the tri-wizard tournament since its inception. On Christmas eve night we and our guests gather in the great hall for well mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the yule ball is first and foremost... a dance.”

Groans emerge from the boys who are listening on. The girls seem a lot more excited.

“Silence. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons.

“Now to dance is to let the body breathe, inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight. Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr Weasly, will you join me,” she grabs Ron and pulls him up to dance.

“Now place your right hand on my waist.”

“Where?”

“My waist,” he does so and a wolf whistle comes from the crowd. _The twins are never gonna let him forget this_ , she thinks to herself while laughing silently. “Now bend your arm. Mr Filch...” The music starts and they dance across the floor. Ron keeps looking at his feet trying not to step on McGonagall. The music stops and the boys and girls get up.

Draco moves over to Melia, bows and kisses her knuckles before moving closer to her. Melia places one hand on his shoulder and one in his hand, then they start moving across the room. Melia doesn’t know how, but she can dance really well. She has never danced in her whole life. Or, at least the life she remembers. They dance so gracefully that everyone around them stops to look at them in amaze. Draco and Melia don’t notice. They just keep on dancing until the music stops and they bow once more. Then they hear the applause from everyone around them. Melia blushes and McGonagall moves closer to them.

“How do you know to dance like that?”

“Our parents made us take classes when we were younger,” Draco answers for them both. _So that’s how I know how to dance._

“Well, I don’t think you need any more classes in this then. 20 points to you each for amazing dancing skills.” Melia looks at Draco. _Did she just give 40 points to two Slytherin students?_ “You both are dismissed from all of these classes. The rest of you can find your partners again. Mr Filch, if you may.”

The young couple leaves the room hand in hand and moves towards their common room. Melia takes out the new book she got on her birthday and starts reading. Draco takes out a book too and starts reading that. A few hours later the rest of their year comes back from dance practice very tired and angry at Draco and Malia for being allowed to skip them and getting house points from McGonagall. She just smirks at them and continues reading.

At dinner that night Melia ate her first real meal in months without vomiting it up again. Her new house and friends have helped her to this point. Since the golden trio knew about her being from another “world”, they treat her a little differently. Except ‘Mione. Their friendship is strong and will last for a long time. But her Slytherin friends don’t know about that and treats her like a normal girl. Maybe it’s because they know how “close” she is with the Dark Lord or if it’s because of her parents, but it doesn’t matter to her, because they care for her. In their own weird and funny ways.

Being in Slytherin has helped her. If it hadn’t been for them, she would have still been as mute as ever and not eating or laughing. Because here both Blaise and Draco know and don't kill her for it. If Harry knew he would hate her right away. He wouldn’t care about the explanation or care how much she was tortured, because she has a Dark Mark. That’s why she’s going to keep it a secret from him for as long as she can. From Ron. From everyone.

Melia looks over at the Gryffindor table where Hermione is talking to someone she remembers as Shawn McClain, a sixth year Gryffindor. Melia understands what is happening right away. She’s showing him what Melia signed before. After McClain has translated it for her, she looks at Melia who has already gone for the door. She follows her out.

Melia occasionally looks back to see if she is still following and doesn’t stop until they have arrived at the Astronomy Tower. ‘Mione looks at her with worried eyes. They stay like that for a minute before Melia moves closer to her, handing her a letter.

“I wrote it down so that I don’t have to speak too much,” she whispers. “I hope that’s alright?” ‘Mione nods and takes the letter. Melia turns her back at her and looks out into the horizon. In the letter, she explained everything. About what Draco told her a year ago, about her parents, what happened in the summer regarding Bellatrix, the Dark Mark, The Quidditch World Cup, about her mission, but kept out what it was about.

When she’s done reading, she walks up to Melia and grabs her left arm and pulls up her sleeve. She sees the Dark Mark and can’t believe her eyes. Melia takes it back and dries away her tears. _She’s going to hate me._ But she was wrong. ‘Mione hugged her right away.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” she says and wipes away Melias’ tears. “What she did to you was unimaginable.” They both sit down on the cold floor looking out at the horizon. Hermione is holding her hand and drawing small circles over her hand. They sit like that for a while in silence. A comfortable silence. That night their friendship became even stronger than before.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia is sitting in the great hall at the Gryffindor table with the trio writing an essay.

“This is mad. At this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates,” Snape comes up from behind him and smacks him on the head with a notebook.

Ron rubs his head, “Well, us and Neville!”

“But then again he can take himself,” Harry answers.

“It might interest you to know that Neville's already got someone.”

Ron gasps, “Now I'm really depressed.” Melia giggles and goes over to Snape to give him her essay before walking back to the others. “Well Hermione, you're a girl.”

“Oh, well spotted.”

“Come on. It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl, it's just sad.”

“I won't be going alone because believe it or not someone's asked me. And I said yes.”

“Bloody hell.” Hermione storms off and Melia runs behind her.

“You already know, don’t you?” Melia nods, “And you knew this situation would happen?” she nods again. “And you didn’t say anything?” Melia just smirks at her.

“Has Draco asked you?” she stops in her tracks. _How could I forget about that?_ “He hasn’t?”

“No,” she whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	29. baby's breath

Melia was walking back to the common room after the lesson in the great hall. She had forgotten completely about having a date at the Yule ball. And she guessed Draco also had forgotten. _That stupid arsehole!_ When she came to the common room, she saw Draco and the others sitting in front of one of the fireplaces. She got her book from the table and went straight for her dorm.

“Hey, where are you going?” she doesn’t answer or spear him a glance. She just continues up to her dorm. “What’s up with her?” he asks the others. They just shrug and that leaves him even more confused.

“Did you do something?” Daphne asks.

Draco looks over to her, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Maybe he forgot to ask her out to the Yule Ball,” Pansy jokes, which earns her a few laughs from everyone except Draco. “Wait… You haven’t?”

“Well, we’re together so I thought it was a matter of course.”

“Mate, just because you’re together doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ask her. Women are complicated I know, but you’ll learn eventually,” the girls throw their pillows at him. “What?! You are,” after seeing the glares from the girls, he gets up from his chair and runs out of the common room. The girls follow him. Draco sits wondering what to do and how to ask her. He ponders for quite some time when he has got it. He gets up and runs straight for the Astronomy Tower.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Hey, this was outside the door,” Milli gives her a small paper that says; ‘meet me at the astronomy tower’. She thanks her and grabs a coat before walking towards the tower. When she gets closer to the tower, she starts to smell something that smells a lot like cherry blossom and when she opens the door, she sees that she was right. The room was filled with cherry blossoms and there by the railing was Draco holding a bouquet of Baby's Breath, her favourite flower. He gives her the flowers and kisses her quick on the lips.

“I’m sorry I didn’t ask you before. It was stupid, I know,” he says while rubbing his neck. “So, I’ll ask you know. Melia Withlock, my beautiful girlfriend. Would you like to go to the ball with me?” Melia throws her arms around his neck and kisses him. He gets surprised at first, but then he kisses her back. When they break apart, he chuckles.

“I take that as a yes then.”

She lets out a breathy laugh, “Yes.”

They stay like that, in each other’s arms for a while before walking back to the common room. He kisses her before they part ways. She goes into her dorm where the girls are waiting in excitement. She explains to them what happened, and they were almost happier about it than her. Then she notices a package on her bed.

“Oh, it was there when we got back. We don’t know who put it there.” Daph tells her. She walks over to it and takes out the letter.

_‘Dear Sugar_

_I will always forgive you and I could never hate you because I know that it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t ask to be tortured or get the mark (willingly). It was forced upon you and all of us know that._

_Anyways, I heard there was going to be a ball at school and thought you would need a dress. This was one of your mothers’ dresses. She loved this dress and I thought you should have it. Hope you like it._

_Love Padfoot’_

She puts the letter down and opens the package to reveal a beautiful dark green coloured dress. The fabric is soft satin and the dress has an open back. She takes it up and gasps at how beautiful it is. Daph steps towards her and reads the letter before hugging her. The two other girls don’t understand what is going on and go to read the letter too. When they see what is written about her, they come to hug her too. After some time, they break apart and Melia looks at them with a questioning look when seeing the tears in their eyes. They point at the letter and she understands right away.

“Who tortured you?”

She whispers, but too low for them to hear. She takes a deep breath and tries again, “Bellatrix,” they look at her shocked wondering if they heard right.

“Bellatrix Lestrange? The Death Eater?” she nods. “And get the mark means?” Melia hesitantly lifts her left sleeve and shows them the Dark Mark. They take some time to process all of it before hugging her again, which surprises her. She thought that they would despise her, or something, but not hug her.

“You’re not mad,” she whispers, still in the hug. They break apart and move over to her bed.

“No, of course not,” Pansy says.

“That explains why you rarely eat or can sleep,” Milli blurs out. Daph hits her and gives her a deathly glance. “Sorry.” Melia lets out a breathy laugh while wiping off the tears.

“We couldn’t be mad at you for that. Our parents are Death Eaters, for goodness sake,” Daph exclaims.

“And eventually it’ll happen to us too,” Pansy says with sorrow in her voice. “We actually heard from our parents that a girl our age got the mark. We never got to know who, though.”

“We had a bet about it. But none of us would have guessed you.”

“I guess all of us lost then,” Daph points out.

“Yes, I guess so,” Pansy points out. “Who knows? I bet Draco does but is there anyone else?”

“Blaise,” they fake gasp at her. “He found out by himself. Anyways, Hermione knows too and… and Snape…”

“What?!” they say in unison.

“He found out one day, but nothing has happened after he found out, so I guess it’s okay,” she shrugs. Then the girls asked her for a full explanation. Melia was tired of speaking so Daph translated for her while she signed the explanation but left behind the mission part. When she was done explaining all of it, they all had tears in their eyes. That night all of them fell asleep in Melias’ bed. 


	30. the yule ball

Melia was getting ready in her dorm. She was going later over to Hermione’s bedroom. She invited her to get ready with her. But before that, she had something else she had to do.

“Ipsum Pallium,” she mutters and the Dark Mark on her hand vanishes. Then she puts on a t-shirt and some sweatpants before walking out of the dorm. Or trying to get out of the dorm. Daphne stops her.

“How did you do that? I didn’t know that spell existed!”

“It doesn’t.”

“You made it yourself?” Melia nods her head. “How?” she smirks at her.

“The spell only works for a few hours, so it’ll go away at midnight. And it stings a lot, so it’s not that effective in the long run.”

“At least you’ll get to wear that dress and not think about the mark!” they talk some more about the spell and about how she made it before Melia had to go. She walks down to the common room where Blaise and Draco are sitting. She gives him a quick kiss before walking towards the Gryffindor common room. ‘Mione said she would meet her outside the common room and help her in. When she arrived, she was already standing there.

“What took you so long?” Melia shrugs, “Oh, just get in here.”

Melia chuckles and follows her. When she goes in, she gets some glances from the others sitting there, but she ignores it. She follows ‘Mione up to her dorm where Ginny and Lavender are also getting ready. Melia puts down her dress on ‘Miones bed and that’s when she notices. She runs over to Melia trying to hide her left arm.

“What are you doing,” she whispers while laughing.

“Your arm!”

“Look at it,” she does and gets shocked over not seeing a mark there.

“How?”

“I made a cloaking spell, Ipsum Pallium. It only works until midnight though, and it stings a lot.”

“So, it’s like Cinderella, but with more pain?”

Melia giggles, “In a way, yes.” After ‘Mione knows it’s safe she lets her start to get ready. Melia has already put on makeup and needs only to put on her dress and style her hair. But the hair goes fast. Yesterday she learned a spell that fixes hair, so she didn’t have to worry about that. After all four of the girls were ready, and after all the compliments on each others’ outfits, they could go.

Melia was supposed to wait at the top of the stairs for Draco, so the other girls went before her. She remembered what the reaction of the others seeing Hermione was, so she didn’t need to see that again. Even though it’s better in person. A few minutes after ‘Mione had her grand entrance, Draco came.

“Wow, you look stunning.”

“You look pretty good yourself.”

He bows down and asks for her hand. She places it in his hand, and they start going down the stairs. When they walked down, people stopped talking and looked at them. You could hear people giving them compliments, but people also gave them negative comments. But both of them tried to shut it out. Melia gave a hug to Hermione before they went inside. They positioned themselves in the front of the ring that was already made.

After the champions had walked in and danced, the young couple joined in. They danced gracefully and probably better than all of the people there. Melia glanced over to where Minerva and Severus were standing. They were pointing at her. _I guess she knows about the mark,_ she thought. They were wondering why her mark wasn’t on her forearm and Minerva wondered if he had been lying, which he hadn’t. Melia just smirked in their direction.

When the dance was over, Draco went to get some drinks while Melia went over to where the golden trio was. She stood with them for a while before she started to wonder where Draco had gone. She knew that he was getting drinks, but he had used a lot of time. She looked around the room for him. Then she spotted him on the dance floor with Pansy. _Of course, he’s dancing with her, why wouldn’t he be._

She ran out of the room and went straight for the Astronomy Tower. Draco noticed her running away and followed her. When he arrived at the tower, he saw her sitting by the railings, crying.

“Why are you sitting here? Did something happen?”

“You happened.”

“You mean me dancing with Pansy? She asked me to dance one dance with her and I said yes, but we’re only friends.”

She lets out a breathy laugh, “Ye, right.”

“Melia. I could never be together with her. And Pansy already has someone. Surely you know?” she looks at him in confusion. “Pansy and Daphne? Wait, you didn’t know?” she shakes her head no.

“Well, they are together. And my heart belongs to you. It’s you I love. So, stop thinking that everyone hates you or dislikes you. Because we don’t. Hermione didn’t hate you after she found out about the mark, neither did Sirius. He gave you that dress to show you that. Potter and Wesley too, they care about you in their own weird way.”

“When they know about the mark, they _will_ hate me.”

“Let's' take that when that time comes, right now they care about you. So does Pansy, Daphne, Millicent, Blaise… and Rosie. We can’t forget about her,” he says with a smile. “I love you, Melia. With all my heart. Don’t forget that!”

Melia walks up to him and gives him a passionate kiss, “I love you, too.” They move closer to kiss again but break apart when her hand starts hurting. She looks down and sees the mark revealing itself again. _It’s already midnight?_ Draco takes off his dress jacket and gives it to her. She gladly accepts it and puts it on. Then they walk down to the great hall again.

“Oh no! I completely forgot!”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, love. I’ll catch up with you later,” she gives him a small peck on the lips and runs down the stairs to where ‘Mione is sitting. Draco sees the picture unfolding in front of him and understands right away. He walks towards the common room trapped in his thoughts. ****She said she loves me too…****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Ipsum Pallium means cloak yourself. I used google translate so it may be wrong.


	31. christmas party

“I don’t want to go,” Melia whines.

“I don’t want either, but we have to.”

The young couple is standing in Hogsmeade. Today it’s going to be a Christmas party in the Malfoy Manor and Draco and Melia were told that they had to come. There were going to be a lot of Death Eaters at the party, and that’s why she didn’t want to go. It takes a lot of energy out of her to act in front of Crouch jr. at school, and now she has to do it in front of everyone for three hours straight.

“I’ll be waiting for you here. I expect to see you here in exactly three hours. Understood?”

“Yes, dad,” Draco says at Severus while rolling his eyes. Before he gets to reply, Melia has apparated them outside the manor.

“Ready?”

“No…” he chuckles and leads the way inside where they meet Narcissa and Lucius. They tell them that they're going to have an entrance, so they need to be ready. Now Melia regrets even more that they came. She didn’t want to stand posing in front of everyone. She hoped the three hours could go fast and they’ll be back at Hogwarts in no time, but now it doesn’t seem like it.

The doors of the ballroom open up and they walk inside. People start to whisper and point at Melia, but she just puts on her Death Eater face. The young couple starts walking around and mingling with people. After they had talked with at least half of the people in the room, the dinner started. When they sat down, Draco noticed something about Melia.

“Are you alright?” he whispers.

She moves closer to him and whispers back, “My voice hurt, I have been talking a lot.”

He nods his head and squeezes her hand. Neither of them can do anything about it. They just have to get through this party to get home again. The food got served and everyone started discussing different themes. Then one of the older males came with a question that was uncalled for.

“Camellia, dear. May I ask you a question.”

She sets down her glass and gives him an innocent smile, “Yes, of course. Go ahead.”

“Well, I wonder if the rumours of you being tortured before getting the mark are true. Is it?”

She lets out a fake laugh, “And what if they are true?”

“Well, that means you didn’t get it at your own accord.”

“Maybe I just wanted some training to deal with people like you,” her smile turns into a smirk. “You know, jerks.”

His smile falters, “What did you say, bitch?”

“That you’re a jerk. I have seen how you have acted towards others, and I would say that your personality says that you’re a jerk.” Draco nudges her side trying to stop her. He gets up from his chair and points his wand at her shouting Crucio. But nothing happens. The spell goes right through her.

“What the-”

“As I said, dealing with jerks. Now sit down, let us not destroy the mood any further,” she starts eating again as nothing happened. Slowly everyone starts eating again but are still stunned over what just happened. ‘She didn’t even flinch’, ‘How?’, ‘What just happened?’, those are the thoughts going around in peoples head. After the dinner is done, the party starts again back in the ballroom. Draco and his parents drag her to another room. Lucius puts up a silencing charm while Melia collapses on the sofa.

“What was that? No, let me change that. How?”

Melias’ voice was hurting so bad that she asked Draco to translate while she signed, “She teleported her body out of sight and put up an illusion of herself. That way nothing could happen to her since it was just an illusion.”

“There’s a spell that can do that?”

“She says yes, it’s called Procidat Deceptionem. But it only works for 10 minutes max. She made it herself, thought it would come in handy.”

They look at her stunned over what they just heard. Melia gets up from the sofa, straightens her dress and begins walking towards the door. “We’re at a party, right? Can’t leave the guests alone,” they follow her out to the ballroom pretending that the conversation that happened just seconds ago didn’t happen.

About an hour and a half later, the young couple says goodbye to everyone and his parents before apparating to Hogsmeade where Severus is waiting for them. When they begin to walk towards him, Melia stumbles, but Draco catches her.

“I just have a headache. A really bad one.”

Severus looks at her and sees how pale she is, “What happened?”

“She’s exhausted. She used some really advanced magic that she shouldn’t have.” Melia collapses completely and Draco picks her up bridal style. They start walking towards the carriage that is going to bring them back to Hogwarts. He places her down and then Severus notices her very exposed Dark Mark. So does Draco. He takes out his wand and mutters Ipsum Pallium and the mark disappears. Severus looks at him surprised.

“Melia made it. It only works for a few hours and has side effects.”

Severus nods at that. When they arrive at the castle, they bring her right to Madam Pomfrey. They tell her that she used some advanced magic and that she had a headache. After Pomfrey had given her the medications, Severus asks him what happened. Draco tells him everything that happened that night.

“How did she even make all those spells?”

“I don’t know,” Draco says truthfully. “It runs in her family, I guess.”


	32. two of three curses

After Melia and Draco came back from the Christmas party, a lot happened. Melia was out for almost a month after because of the spell she used. Apparently, it isn’t that safe to make your own spells. When she woke up, she had a major headache and passed out again because of the pain. She woke up a few days later with a headache still, but a minor one.

Draco was worried sick for her and missed a lot of classes after the winter break. Hermione would also spend a lot of time by her side when Draco was unable too. They switched back and forth and they learned to tolerate each other. Not that they are friends, but they can have conversations without the other wanting to bite its head off. Harry and Ron also visited a few times, but Harry is mostly worrying about the second task. One of the reasons only Hermione and Draco have been staying with her is because of her mark. They are afraid the wrong people see it. So far no one has.

Melia wasn’t allowed to go out of the hospital wing until they were sure she was alright. So even though she was awake didn’t mean that she was alright. Hermione tried to catch her up on what they had learnt while she was sleeping, which was easy because Melia is a very fast learner. Minerva has been helping her too and Albus has been ignoring her as usual.

Ever since she started her fourth year, he has been ignoring her. Maybe he knew what happened at the manor before everyone else did and is now keeping his distance. But whatever it is doesn’t matter to her. She has always felt that he only cared for her because of her parents, but Minerva and Severus showed more fondness for her and made her feel actually loved. They cared for her way more than what he would ever do.

One night Melia was alone in the hospital wing after convincing Draco and Hermione that they need some sleep. Then Crouch jr. came to her. He told her about the second task and what he was planning to do. She already knows that his plan will work, so she didn’t object. He also told her he heard what happened at the Christmas party and wondered how she did it. She just glared at him and he walked away.

A few nights before that, Draco gave her a letter his mother had sent;

_‘Melia,_

_I heard you’re in the hospital wing and I hope you’re alright. Whatever you’re planning is working. People are afraid of you after you didn’t even flinch when he cast the spell at you. So, if it was respect and fear you were aiming for, then you’ve got it._

_Anyways, be safe Melia!_

_Nissi’_

Melia got what she wanted. No, what she needed. The more people respected her and feared her, the higher she could climb in rank and the more information she could get to the Order. She’s been keeping a diary where she writes down everything she knows and enchanted it so that only she can see the content of it.

A week after the meeting with Crouch jr. she was allowed out of the hospital wing. Now she’s sitting in the library with the trio trying to figure out how Harry can breathe underwater for an hour. Then Mad-Eye suddenly comes and tells them that Hermione and Ron were needed in McGonagalls’ office. Melia knew what this meant so she hugged ‘Mione before she was able to leave. Neville helped her and Harry to set all the books back. Then he came with one of his books and showed it to us. Something called gilliweed. _Perfect, it’s going just as it's supposed to go._

The next day Melia was standing down at the platform where the champions were standing. She wanted to be there when Hermione came up from the water. The cannon shot was heard, and the champions jumped in. After about an hour, Krum and Hermione resurfaced. Melia went right over to her and wrapped her in a towel. When her breathing calmed, she looked at Melia.

“Is this why you gave me a hug yesterday?”

“Maybe,” she smirked, and Hermione gave out a breathy laugh.

Then two more people came out of the water. Ron and Fleur’s sister, but no Harry in sight. A few moments later he came on to the platform and got a towel around him right away. And he got first place tied with Cedric for saving two people. They all went back to their common rooms, but before Melia was able to, she got hauled away by Mad-Eye, telling her to meet him outside at midnight.

At midnight she went outside and met him at the border of the dark forest. She didn’t understand at first why they would be here, but then she saw him. Barty Crouch Sr. lying on the ground.

“I’m going to teach you something,” she looked confused. “All Death Eaters need to know how to use all the unforgivable curses. You know how to use one of them and now you’re going to know how to use two of them.”

****(A/N) Warning! Torture and murder.** **

Melia moves closer to Crouch Sr. and hesitated a little before muttering the spell. He wriggled and you could see he was in pain, but no screams came out. _He must have put a silencing spell on him_ , she thought. She continued to do it until she was stopped. Crouch jr. bent down and said something Melia couldn’t hear to him. The next thing she sees horrified her, but she kept her face straight. A green light erupts from his wand. Barty Crouch Sr. is dead, and Melia had to witness it right in front of her eyes.

“You did well, better than I thought.”

“You thought I would get cold feet?” she looked over at him, “Because my feet are very warm.”

“That’s exactly what I thought. But I guess I was wrong about you.”

She smirked at him before walking away. She kept her face blank all the way. If she didn’t then she would break down and she couldn’t do it out in the woods. She walked into the common room and was glad no one was there. She opened her dorm room and when she closed the door, she collapsed into the wall. _I just toured a man before watching the same man die. I made his last moments awful._

The other girls ran over to her and tried to get her to speak, but she couldn’t. She got herself up from the floor and lay down in bed. She fell asleep instantly, but her dreams were haunted by the events of that night. The three girls didn’t know what happened but saw that there was nothing they could do and let it be. For now.


	33. the final...

Everyone was sitting outside the maze, waiting for the final task to start. The day after her “lesson” she acted like what happened the night before didn’t happen, but inside it was tearing her apart. The girls were concerned for her and told Draco. He knew it had something to do with her mission and didn’t ask her about it. She has been trying to keep him out of everything. She knew that in their sixth year he also had to get the mark and do a mission for the Dark Lord. So, until then, she has decided to keep him out of it. She’ll sometimes come into his room at night after having a nightmare or because she can’t sleep, and he comforts her. Because he knows that she won’t tell him. So the only thing he can do is let her cry herself to sleep.

Melia gave Harry a hug earlier telling him that she’s sorry. He didn’t understand it, but he will later. She was instructed to go to the graveyard later and when he sees her, he would want to shut her out completely. She also went to Hermione and asked for her to understand and wait for her letter. Hermione didn’t understand at all but agreed that she would wait to have an opinion until she had read her letter.

The champions were getting in place now. Mad-Eye nodded his head at Melia, who nodded back at him. She gripped Draco’s hand. Soon she would have to leave, and she won’t be seeing him for a while. The cannon fired and the two first champions went into the maze. After a few minutes, the two last went in. The arena was silent, just a few people were talking. Then a red light was seen and then Fleur came out. Not long after Krum was also taken out of the maze. Melia knew it was getting closer now. Then she felt it. Her arm.

She kissed Draco, “I love you.”

Then she walked out of the arena, but before she was able a strong hand stopped her. Severus looked her in the eyes. Pleading. She had never seen him like this before.

“You don’t have to go.”

“That’s the problem, Severus,” she looks at him and wriggles out of his grip. “I do.”

She began running down to where she could apparate. She flicked her fingers and then she was wearing her finest dress. She then apparated to the graveyard where all the others were. Melia placed herself right by Lucius with her back pointed against Harry. Voldemort began unmasking his followers and when he saw Melia, you could almost see a small smile creeping upon his lips. She tried to keep her face straight. He moved closer to her.

“Ahh, miss Camellia Withlock. Your work has helped me greatly. I’m shocked you made it this far…”

A few people began laughing, but stopped when he gave them a deathly glare, “I’ve trained all my life for this, my Lord.”

“Yes, you have,” he says with a horrifying smile. Then he moved over to Cedric’s corpse and he remembers that Harry is in our presence. Harry struggles and tries to get free, but Voldemort moves over to him and touches his scar. He cries out in pain, and Melia hits herself internally trying not to break.

Voldemort lets him free and makes him bow with magic. They start to duel, then their spells connect and then something that looks like a shield of some sort surrounds the two of them. Harry’s parents can be seen, and Cedric too. Somehow the spirits distract Voldemort and Harry is able to get to the cup. Melia celebrates internally, thankful it went well.

Voldemort cries out in anger before moving towards Melia, “You have turned out to be a great asset. Go back to the manor with Lucius. Await my owl.”

Melia moves forward, “If I may, my Lord,” he indicates for her to go on. “Wouldn’t it be wiser if I stayed with the order? They trust me and I could gather some essential information.”

He thinks for some time before answering, “Alright. Go, I expect you to give me reports every week. Gather as much information as you can. Understood?”

“Yes, my Lord,” she bows and apparates back to the castle. Everyone should still be at the arena, which gives her time to gather her stuff. But what she didn’t expect was to meet Snape and the other teachers on the way. They take her with them towards Mad-Eye’s office. When they get there, a spell is cast at who they believed was Mad-Eye and Melia is passed to McGonagall. They use the Veritaserum on him and he confesses. The real Mad-Eye has been found. Then the fake Mad-Eye starts to twitch and transforms into Barty Crouch jr.

Dumbledore moves forward, “Barty Crouch Junior.”

“I'll show you mine if you show me yours,” he rolls up his sleeve to reveal a skull and snake marking.

“Your arm Harry.” Dumbledore takes his hand to reveal just his blood, no mark.

“Not his, hers’,” he moves his head towards Melia. Dumbledore grabs her left arm and lifts up her sleeve where the Dark Mark is bright black, and the snake almost seems like its moving.

“You know what these means don't you? He's back. Lord Voldemort has returned.”

“Send an owl to Azkaban, think they'll find they're missing a prisoner.” McGonagall goes right away.

“I'll be welcomed back like a hero.”

“Perhaps. Personally, I've never had much time for heroes,” he looks over at Melia. “Severus bring her to my office.”

“What?! Aren’t you going to send her to? She was the one who did most of the work!” he starts to wriggle and tries to get out of his restraints. “She should be punished too!”

Severus takes her out of the room, holding a tight grip around her arm. When they enter the office, she is forcefully put in one of the chairs and he uses a spell to keep her there. She tries to reason with him that they’re not necessary, but he doesn’t listen. Some time later, Minerva and Albus enter. They look over at her and Albus makes the magic that was binding her disappear.

“But, sir-”

“You also heard what she wrote in the letter. She didn’t ask for this,” he looks over at her. “You were there, right? Is it true is he back?”

Melia looks down at her hands unable to look at them. Severus’ voice makes her jump, “Answer.”

A tear falls down her cheek, “Y-yes.”

Minerva looks at her with fear in her eyes, then Albus speaks up, “Has he given you a new mission?”

“He just came back, Albus,” Minerva says to him. Then she looks at Melia who’s looking down again. “He has?”

Melia nods, “What is the mission?”

“To gather information on the order. I’m to stay with them and give him reports every week,” she pauses before continuing. “I asked for it. I didn’t want to stay at the manor for another summer.”

Severus was about to say something, but Albus cut him to it. “Okay. Go gather your stuff, then get back here. You’ll go to Padfoot right away.”

She nods her head before walking out of the office. She dries her checks and erased the signs that she has cried. Melia flicks her fingers and changes back to the clothes she had on before she went to the graveyard. Almost every Slytherin is sitting in the common room and they all turn their heads towards her when she walks in. Melia keeps her head held high and walks towards her dorm. Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Daphne and Millicent all follow her. One of them puts up a silencing charm while Melia packs her bags.

“What happened?”

“Is he back?”

“Did you see him?”

“Melia, talk to us!”

She turns around and you can see the anger in her face, “Yes, he’s back! Yes, I saw him! What happened… what happened you’ll probably hear from your parents. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to go,” she tries to walk out of the room, but they stop her.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to be staying with the order for the summer. I have to follow orders.”

Draco steps forward, “What orders?”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to know. I’m really sorry, but I have to go.”

Before she’s able to leave, Draco pushes her against him and gives her a passionate kiss. She melts into the kiss and wishes she didn’t have to leave. “Be careful, okay? Send me a letter when you’re safe. I love you.”

She smiles at him and walks out of the room leaving the others in there. They look at each other, scared for what Melia has to do and about what happened when she met the Dark Lord that made her like that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	34. my remorse

“She was there! You have to believe me. She said, and I quote ‘I’ve trained all my life for this’. What does that even mean?” Harry, Ron and Hermione are sitting in the hospital wing. Harry is explaining to them what happened and what he saw.

“We believe you, mate. But it’s a little weird. Melia being a Death Eater?”

“She was with the Malfoy’s all summer. Wasn’t she?”

“Yes, but-,” he cuts himself off. “What do you think, Hermione?” Both boys look at her, “Hermione?”

“Yes, what?” she sees that she has lost some of the conversation, “Sorry…”

Harry looks at the letter in her hand, “Who’s that from?”

“It’s from Melia,” she says casually.

“Melia?! Didn’t you hear anything I just said? About her being a Death Eater and that she was at the graveyard?” Harry studies her face before continuing, “You knew, didn’t you? That she was a Death Eater? You knew all along and you didn’t tell us?”

“Yes, I knew. But only about her being a Death Eater. Nothing else,” she looks at Harry and sees his eyes that leak of betrayal. “And this letter is her side of the story.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

“ _Dear Hermione,_

_If you read this then it means that my mission is done and that Voldemort is back. You’ll probably have heard Harry’s side of the story, but I want you to know my side too. So, let’s start at the beginning._

_As you know I stayed with the Malfoy’s all summer. You also know that Bellatrix came a week into summer vacation and that she tortured me for a month. That she destroyed my voice. And that in the end, I gave in. When I gave in, I told myself that it would be the last time I would ever be in that position. I never wanted to be tortured again. And the only way that could happen was if I played along. The only way I could be safe._

_At the Quidditch World Cup, I knew what was going to happen. But me and Draco stayed in the tent the whole time and went back to the manor when it was done. I’m glad Harry made it out alright._

_My mission was to help Mad-Eye/Crouch jr. to get Harry safely to the last task and when the time was right, I was to go to the graveyard. And I succeeded._

_The dragon's Harry got told about was because of me. Crouch jr. put me in charge of making Hagrid do it. And by making, I mean cursing him. I used the Imperius Curse. It was one of two curses I have used. He gave me a small script and then I went to Hagrid._

_Around this time, I sent a letter to Sirius, by accident. I told him about what happened at the manor and about the mark, but not about my mission. I was so scared to hear his answer. I thought he was going to hate me. Even though it wasn’t my choice._

_Then you figured out what I signed to you all those weeks ago. Bellatrix. Took you some time. But I’m glad you found out. You took some great weight from my shoulders. And I started eating more again, sleeping more. Some of it was because of Draco and my new friends, but I think that secret did a lot to me. Hiding it from you was so hard. And when you didn’t punch me or hex me after you found out, I was so happy. Happy that you understood and that you could continue loving me._

_Sirius sent me a letter a few days after that and told me that he could never hate me and that he forgave me. He even sent me one of my mom’s old dresses. I don’t know how he had it, but it made me glad that also he continued loving me, just like you._

_The day after the Yule Ball, me and Draco had to go to the Malfoy manor for a Christmas party. There, one of the Death Eaters was trying to make me someone they could laugh at and I needed to make him stop. The reason I was in the hospital wing a month after that was because of a spell I made that went wrong. The spell lets you make an illusion of yourself. I did that and when he used the Cruciatus Curse on me it went right through me. They started fearing me after that. Just what I wanted. Not because I liked it, but because they wouldn’t dare try to harm me._

_Then the second task came around. And yes, the reason I hugged you was because I knew you were going to be put at the bottom of the lake. I was the one who gave Neville the book about gilliweed and I was the one who gave him that gilliweed so that he could give it to Harry._

_And what happened next was almost worse than any of the above. I was asked by Crouch jr. to meet him at midnight at the border of the forbidden forest. Then he brought me to a place where he had Barty Crouch Sr. bound. He told me he wanted to teach me something and told me to use the Cruciatus Curse on him. I did. And then Crouch jr. killed him. Right in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do anything about it._

_When the final task came, I knew it was getting closer to my mission being done. That soon I would meet Voldemort for the first time, and I would see Harry’s eyes looking at me with more hate than he has ever hated someone or something before. I wasn’t ready for it, but I had to go. When my mark began burning, I apparated to the graveyard. And I stood there just watching what was happening. When Harry left, I asked Voldemort to stay with the Order. I couldn’t bear staying at the manor. He said yes, making him think that I wanted to spy on them. That’s where I’ll be staying this summer, with Sirius._

_Albus, Minerva and Severus all knew about my mark already. But they didn’t blame me. They helped me get out of the castle and get me safe to Sirius._

_I don’t know if you’ll still forgive me after what I’ve told you, but I think you’re smart enough to understand my decisions. Why I made them and why that was the only way I could think of. I love you Hermione and I care deeply for you._

_I’ll see you in a few months, ‘Mione_

_Your friend, Melia”_

The three sit there stunned over what they just heard. They didn’t know she had to do all that. Hermione would forgive her because she understands her point. Ron would also forgive her, it would take some time, but he would understand. But Harry. He would be harder to convince. 


	35. the photo album

Melia was standing in Albus’ office. She had gathered all her stuff and he was telling her about the order and to not send letters to either one of the trio. Ron and Harry would be alright, but she would keep sending letters to Hermione. After he was done, she stepped into the fireplace and said the place she was going, then throwing the powder on the floor. The next thing she knows, she’s standing in the living room of Grimmauld Place. She sets her trunk down before walking towards the kitchen where she sees Sirius standing in the doorway.

“Hey there Sugar.”

She stares at him with wide eyes, “Since when do you know sign language?”

“Since your second letter, when you told me about your voice. I learnt some words to the others so that if you don’t feel comfortable talking, you can sign.”

Melia has tears in her eyes now and runs towards him. They stay there hugging each other for what seems like an eternity before someone coughing breaks them apart. She looks to her side to see who it was. There at the table sits Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye. She takes out her wand and points it right at Mad-Eye, forgetting that it’s the real Alastor and not Crouch jr. Sirius snatches away her wand.

“I’m sorry, I forgot that you’re not him…” she looks over at Sirius, “May I go to my room? If I have one.”

“Yes, of course. Kreacher can bring you there. Kreacher!”

“Mistress Camellia, it’s good to see you again. Kreacher will gladly help you.” Melia looks at him a little weird but follows leaving the others down in the kitchen. When she’s gone they look at Sirius.

“What? Oh, Kreacher. He loved my sister so that means he also took a liking to Melia.”

Molly looks at him, “When are you going to tell her?”

“Not yet. She just came home after meeting you-know-who. She needs some time before I tell her.”

“At least tell her before the others arrive,” Remus says.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_I’m standing in the forest again. Barty Crouch sr. eyes are looking at me. Begging me to stop. But I don't. I keep on saying the curse and a smile creeps up on my lips. No, why am I enjoying this? This isn’t me._

_“Stop!” I shout at the girl who’s supposed to be me. She turns around and looks at me, a horrifying smirk on her lips._

_“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it a little. The fear in his eyes-”_

_“Stop it!”_

_“The silent screams-”_

_“No, no…”_

_“The cuts forming on his skin-”_

_“STOP IT!” the girl backs away a few steps, but her smirk doesn’t falter. “This isn’t me and it will never be me. I only do this to survive!”_

_The girl laughs maniacally, “Keep telling yourself that, sweetie. Maybe you’ll start to actually believe it in the end…”_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia wakes up with a start. Oh, how she wished she was with Draco now. That dream was something different. She had never had a dream like that. They always show her memories but never has one of them had a will of its own. Melia looks at the clock in the room to see that it’s 04.14 am. _Early, but new record._ Even though she sleeps better doesn’t mean that she can sleep through the whole night. At least four hours, but this night she slept over five.

She flicks her fingers and her pyjamas change into black sweatpants and a Slytherin quidditch sweater. She may have stolen it from Draco one morning when she was in his room. After she’s dressed, Melia walks down to the living room. Kreacher noticed that she was awake and asked if she needed anything. She politely declined, still wondering why he is so nice to her. She remembers clearly in the films that he was an arsehole, but not to her.

She sits down on the sofa and starts to look through the photo album Draco gave her for Christmas. He had found some pictures from when they were younger and put in some newer photos too.

“Why are you up?” someone suddenly says from the door.

She smirks at him, “I could ask you the same.”

He laughs and sits down beside her, “What are you looking at?”

Melia gives him the album which he gladly looks at. He smiles seeing the pictures. Sirius never got to see her grow up because of the time he spent in Azkaban. So, seeing this makes him almost cry. Then he notices one of the pictures of Draco and Melia kissing. She notices it too and snatches it away from him.

“You’re dating him? I thought you were only friends.”

“We were when I sent you that letter. Then on my birthday we kind of kissed and yes…”

“Do Narcissa and Lucius know about this?” she nods her head, “Well, I’m happy as long as you’re happy.”

He smiles at her and they continue to look at the album. Sirius looks over at Melia a few times, wondering if he’s going to tell her or not. “Melia,” she closes the album and looks at him. “I wasn’t going to tell you this now. Not after everything that has happened, but I think you need to know.”

“Know what?”

“Melia, your mother’s name was Olivianna Black Withlock. She was my sister, which makes you Camellia Black Withlock.”

Melia’s face goes blank and her eyes turn white. Sirius tries to come in contact with her, but she just sits there looking into nothing. “Help! Remus, Tonks, someone!”

They come downstairs and wonder what is happening, then they see Melia.

Tonks hurries over to her side, “What is going on?!”

“I don’t know. I told her about her mother and then she just turned like this.”

Remus looks at her eyes and understands immediately, “I know,” their eyes move over to him. “She’s remembering. The spell her parents put on her is breaking. You telling her about her mother must have broken it… Lay her down.”

They do so and decide that they need to watch over her until she wakes up. Seeing that she has to go through every memory, it may take a while. Sirius was the first to watch over her while the two others went to bed. Then in the morning, they changed. And so they did for almost two weeks.


	36. a trip down memory lane

_“Mom,” a young girl whined._

_“Come on, honey. You can do it. Just think about your happiest memory.”_

_The girl does and out of her fingertips a white and blue light erupts and that light turns into a small dragon._

_“Look, mom. A dragon! It’s so cute.”_

_“Yes, honey. It is very cute,” the little girl giggles and runs around the room following the dragon around. A young man comes in and stands beside the young woman. He places a hand on her lower back and kisses her head. He looks over to the little girl running around._

_“So, she finally did it?”_

_“Yes. It’s a dragon. Don’t you think that’s weird? They haven’t even met yet.”_

_“Maybe they’re just meant to be.”_

_She lets out a breathy laugh, “Yes, maybe.”_

_The little girl notices the man and runs towards him. He lifts her up, “Look, dad. It’s a baby dragon!”_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_The same young girl and woman are standing in the hallway of their house. The girl looks a few years older. The woman is telling the young girl that they’re meeting some very important people and that she needs to behave. She rolls her eyes at her mom before hugging her. Then the young man comes into the picture and they apparate. They arrive outside a big dark mansion._

_They walk inside and get greeted by two people, a woman and a man. The two women hug each other while the men shake hands._

_“It’s so good to see you again, Olivia.”_

_“It’s good to see you too Narcissa.”_

_“And this must me, Camellia. Wow, she looks so grown up.”_

_“Well, it has been almost five years since you saw her last.”_

_The young girl, Camellia, can’t concentrate on the conversation. She has noticed a boy standing behind the woman named Narcissa. Their eyes meet and he comes closer to her. He pulls out his hand from his pocket and puts it in front of her to shake. She does._

_“Draco Malfoy, a pleasure.”_

_“Camellia Black Withlock, a pleasure to meet you too.”_

_The adults look over at the two, smiling._

_“Draco, dear. Why don’t you show Camellia around?”_

_He looks up at his mother, “Yes, mother.” They link arms and he starts showing her around._

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_“Draco, where are we going?”_

_“Just wait a little longer, it’s right around the corner.”_

_They round the corner and walk inside two big doors. She gasps when she sees all the books._

_“Wow, this is amazing!”_

_“I know right,” he says with a smirk. “Go on.” He ushers her forward. She goes around looking at the different books. Books about different spells, potions, magic history and so much more. Then he suddenly grabs her hand and brings her to the back corner of the room where there are muggle books._

_“Are they...?”_

_“Muggle books, yes. Pick one.”_

_She looks at them and drags her finger over some of them, “Mathilda, The Alchemist, Howl's Moving Castle…” then she picks one of them, “Lord of the rings. Sounds interesting.” Draco grabs the book from her. “Hey!”_

_“What? Come on, we’ll read together.”_

_They go back to the entrance where the fireplace is. They sit down on the sofa and Draco starts to read. They sit there for hours. Just reading and enjoying each other’s company._

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_“The spell is almost done. We’ll be able to send her to Oslo safely.”_

_Camellia is sitting outside her father’s office eavesdropping in on the conversation he’s having with her mother._

_“I know, but-”_

_“We talked about this Olivia. We need to do this. If we stay, all of us die, but if she leaves then only we have to die.”_

_“I know. What if she comes home too early? What if she comes back before he is defeated?”_

_“If that happens, then our sacrifice went in vain. Then what we have worked so hard for… Let’s not think about that. It’ll probably go fine.”_

_“Probably, Rutherford? We can’t send her away and hope she will be alright. We need to be sure.”_

_“And how do you expect us to manage that. We can’t test it on someone, can we?!”_

_“No, we can’t. Let’s just continue working on it and hope that if she comes back too early, she fights him, not for him.”_

_He moves closer to her, “Yes, let’s hope.”_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_Rutherford, Olivia, Lucius and Narcissa are standing in the kitchen, arguing. Camellia sits on the sofa in the living room, unable to move. Tears fall down her cheeks._

_“She needs to leave now! You don’t have time for this!” Lucius shouts._

_“It takes some time for the spell to start working. Stop worrying.” Olivia says in a calm voice._

_“Olivia, we need to say goodbye before the spell is done,” she nods her head at her husband before walking into the other room where Camellia is sitting. She kneels down in front of her._

_“I’m sorry, sweetie. This was our best opinion. When the spell starts working you won’t remember anything. It’ll take you to Oslo, the place we went to last summer, and there you will get a new family,” her voice breaks. “When you come back, the spell will lift off and you will remember again. If it works as it should. If it happens that you come back before he is gone, then I hope you remember which side you’re on. We trained you so that you can fight him back. So please use your powers for good. Okay?” Camellia nods her head._

_Rutherford kneels beside his wife, “We love you, Camellia. Everything we have done is for you and-”_

_“Rutherford! It’s starting to work!”_

_“Your mother and I love you. Goodbye…”_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia wakes up panting and sweaty. Someone shouts something, but she’s unable to hear it. A woman waves her hand in front of her, but Melia can’t focus. She’s overwhelmed about everything she just saw.

“Water,” she croaks almost inaudibly. “I need water.” Someone brings her a glass of water and she drinks it right away. She lays back down and Sirius pats her forehead with a wet cloth.

“You’re alright Sugar. Don’t try to remember everything at once. Use time.”

She nods her head before she passes out. Exhausted after being awake for over a week.


	37. awake again

Everyone is sitting in the kitchen. Melia woke up again a few minutes ago and she went to sit with the others. After she fainted, she slept for a day before waking up again. The Weasley family came a few days prior.

“How are you feeling, Sugar?”

“Like my head is about to explode,” she reaches out her hand and then her juice box appears. She drinks up the box at least 2 times. Fred notices this.

“How is that possible? You must have drunk it up at least two times.”

“Magic,” she smirks at him. “Ipsum Replere, makes juice boxes refill themselves.”

“Since when does something like that exist?”

“Since I made it up.”

Tonks breaks up their small argument, “How was she awake for almost two weeks and then only slept for a day afterwards?”

“Because I don’t sleep-” she stopped, wondering if she heard right, “Did you say almost two weeks?”

“Yes, why?”

Melia’s face falters. She gets up from her chair and starts pacing around. _No, damn it! I can’t go back to the manor. Not now! Not when it’s only a year until-._ They look at her worried and try to talk to her, but she’s blocked out all their voices. Then she suddenly stops when someone grabs her wrists and makes her look at him.

“I can’t go back to the manor. I don’t want to leave you,” she says to him.

“What are you talking about? You won’t be going back to the manor!” Sirius says while looking into her eyes, showing her how serious he is.

“My mission. The only reason I was allowed to come here this summer was if I spied on you. Which I was never planning to do, but he said I had to give him reports every week. And… and now it has been almost two,” she gets out of his grip and starts pacing again, mumbling to herself. Sirius takes her shoulders and places her down in the chair again.

“Stop pacing!” she looks down at her lap. “We’ll figure it out. Just please calm down.”

Melia suddenly gets an idea, “I know what to do!” She makes her small notebook and pen appear and starts writing. When she’s done, she gives it to Sirius. He nods at her before she walks over to the window and gives it to Diana. She flies away. They sit there in silence waiting for the owl to come back. When she does, Melia reads the letter out loud.

_“Good work, Camellia. I knew I could trust you with this. And you’re right. It’s too suspicious to send out a letter each week like this. Send me a letter when you have any news._

_Also, there’s one more thing…”_ She stops. They look at her waiting for her to continue. She doesn’t and gives the letter for Sirius to read. He nods down at her and then the letter suddenly turns into ashes. They look at him, about to argue but he silences them with a glare. Then they hear someone coming to the kitchen from the entrance. A girl says hello to everyone before noticing Melia.

“You got my letter?”

“Yes, me and the boys read it,” Melia looks over to Ron who just looks away.

“And I forgive you. I did it the first time, I’ll do it now and I’ll always forgive you. Do you know why?” she shakes her head, no. “Because you are my best friend, Melia,” then she goes over to her and hugs her. The two girls go with Ginny to her room. They sit and talk for hours, well not Melia so much because her voice still hurt.

Since Melia has been talking so much lately, her voice hasn’t been able to heal properly. She needs to stop speaking for a while again, but when you live in a house where only one person understands sign language, it’s a little hard. Ever since her voice broke, she had been trying to make a spell that could heal it. Nothing has worked so far. She doesn’t understand why. She’s been able to make so many spells, but for some reason, nothing works.

After the two other girls had fallen asleep, she went down to the kitchen to make some tea. Melia isn’t a big fan of tea, but she always told herself that she only needed to find the right flavour. And with the help of the elves at Hogwarts, she’s finally found one she likes. Rose tea with milk and a teaspoon of sugar. It also has helped her calm her nerves.

When the tea is ready, she moves over to the living room. She takes out a piece of paper and starts writing. Melia hasn’t written a letter to Draco yet, and he must be worried about her.

_‘To Draco,_

_I’m sorry for not writing a letter. I was out of it for two weeks and wasn’t able to send you a letter because of that. I hope you’re alright. Since I’ve been out of it, I haven’t got that much to say except I love you and can’t wait to see you again when the school year starts again._

_Oh, another thing… We never got to finish The Lord of the Rings, so I thought we could read it when we got back at Hogwarts. I have all three of them, so you don’t have to take them with you._

_From your love’_

She folds the letter and gives it to Diana. When the owl came back, she wasn’t expecting it to have a letter with her. It was late, and she thought he would be asleep by now.

_‘Hey, love_

_It’s good to hear that you’re alright. I was worried sick when I didn’t get any letters from you, but now I know you’re alright. We never got to read some of the other books too, if you remember?_

_Anyways, I love you too and will count down the days until we meet again._

_D.M._

Melia smiles widely to herself when she’s done. She remembers the other books she looked at that day and told herself that she would try to get them before the school year starts. Melia and Draco kept sending letters back and forth to each other all night until she fell asleep on the sofa, with her quill in hand and Diana by her side.

Sirius smiled when he came down that morning and took the quill out of her hand and took one of the blankets, putting it around her. He kisses her on the forehead before walking to the kitchen.


	38. fly

fifth year

"Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect."

\- Luna

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The order together with Melia is sitting in the kitchen having a meeting. Some of the others are out getting Harry and will be arriving shortly with him. She was allowed to be in the meeting while the other “kids” were upstairs because of her rank in Voldemort’s army, but she isn’t listening in on the conversation. She took her book with her and is reading.

Remus tries to close her book, “Are you listening, Melia?”

“No, and I don’t want to listen.” Sirius translates for her.

Remus was about to answer, but then someone opens the front door and comes into the kitchen. Then Molly goes to greet Harry. He looks at Sirius who smiles back at him before the door is closed. They discuss some more, and Remus dropped trying to get Melia to listen. When they were done, dinner was served, and everyone came down. Sirius and Harry shared a heartfelt hug in the hallway before coming in. When Harry came into the room, he noticed Melia right away and pointed his wand at her. She just pushed it away and looked over to Hermione.

“What? I told you we read it. I forgave you, but I don’t know about them…”

“You forgave her? After what she did?” he looked disgusted at Melia before continuing. “She tortured Barty Crouch Sr. before he died and used the Imperius Curse on Hagrid and you just forgive her?”

Melia just shakes her head. She knew he wouldn’t forgive her that easily. She opens her mouth to speak, but Sirius cuts her off, “Stop, don’t destroy your voice even more. Let me translate.”

“No, I don’t care right now because he needs to hear it coming from my mouth,” she moves her eyes from Sirius’ over to Harry’s. “This is the reason I only told Hermione because I knew how you would react. If it hadn’t been for me and Crouch jr. you would have died or gotten seriously injured in the first task. Everything I did was to help you. And when it came to the torture of Barty Crouch Sr., I had no choice. It was him or me.”

It’s quiet for a while after that and then Melia gets up from her chair taking her book with her. “I’m not hungry,” she says before going to the living room to read in peace. When she gets there, she collapses on the sofa couching. _My stupid voice. Damn you, Bellatrix for destroying it._

After a few minutes, she gathers herself and moves over to the piano. She hasn’t played since she was a little kid. Now that she has her memories back, she can do a lot of things she didn’t know off. Like very advanced spells or knowing about different creatures or playing the piano. She thinks before playing one of her mother’s favourite songs, that she used to play for her parents a long time ago. ‘Fly by Ludovico Einaudi’. A beautiful song that she used to listen to a lot when she was in Oslo. Her conciseness must have remembered the song and made her play it even though she didn’t remember why she liked it so much.

She hadn’t noticed that someone had come into the room before she heard someone applauding her after she was done with the song. She looked up and saw Sirius sitting on the sofa.

“My sister’s favourite song. What’s it called again?”

“Fly.”

“It’s a beautiful song.” Melia smiles at him before turning back to the piano to play another song. She doesn’t know how long she played, but when she looked up from the piano again, it was very dark outside. Sirius was still sitting on the sofa with a book in his hand. She got up from the chair and went over to Sirius. He laid down his book and opened his arms for her. Melia nuzzled into his warmth and not long after you could hear her deep breaths, indicating that she had fallen asleep. Sirius didn’t want to wake her, so they both slept there until she woke up a few hours later.

Melia tried to get out of his hold without waking him, which she failed at. He woke up and looked right into her eyes. She smiled at him apologetically, “I’m going to bed. I guess you’ll stay here?” she just nodded at him and then he went to his own bedroom. She wandered off to the kitchen to make herself some tea. What she wasn’t expecting to see was someone else sitting in there. She went to the stove to warm the water, avoiding him completely. He notices this and tries to speak to her. She still acts like he’s not there.

“I’m sorry, okay?” she takes two teacups out of the cabin still not answering him. “Sirius and the others tried to reason with me, and I have to be honest. I still don’t trust you completely, but I’m willing to try. You were once my friend and before you can be it again, I need to see that I can trust you. Not just words,” the kettle squeals and she takes it off the stove. Then she pours the hot water into the two teacups and gives one to Harry. He smiles at her, but she doesn’t return it. Her face is still blank, and she cleans up before leaving the room. She could hear Harry letting out a deep breath. Melia goes to her room, gives some sweats to Diana and sits down on the chair by the fireplace.

This room was hers when she was younger and Kreacher had kept it clean hoping that one day Melia and her parents would return. In the end, it was just Melia that returned. Her room had a dark grey coloured wallpaper and had dark brown flooring. The window had a bench underneath it so she could sit and look out the window. Not far from the window was a big four-poster bed with grey curtains and white bedding. By the door was a fireplace with two white and dark brown wood armchairs.

On top of the fireplace were pictures of her, her parents, some of them were with Draco and his family and one of them was a picture of her and Hermione the first time they were in Hogsmeade. In the far-left corner of the room was Diana’s cage and on the same wall, there were built-in bookshelves with both muggle books and magical books. Melia went over to one of the shelves and picked out one before sitting down again. Diana came over to her and sat down on her shoulder. The owl had a habit of doing so. She liked being close to her owner and Melia didn’t mind. 

**(A/N) the song is actually a song and is one of my favorite piano songs. It's on Spotify if you want to listen ↡**

**\- Camilla ❃**


	39. a letter from you-know-who

Harry had just left for his hearing at the Ministry and Melia is sitting in the kitchen with the others waiting for him to return. Melia already knows he’ll be alright after what she remembers from the films. Lately, she has been remembering less and less, but she remembers small things like what happens at Harry’s hearing, what’s happening at school this year, Sirius dying and some other things. Even though she knew the books and films inside out before. The longer she stays here, the more she forgets.

All of them are having a cheerful argument, but they stop when a black owl flies in and over to Melia. She recognizes the owl right away and takes the letter out of its beck slowly. She opens it and starts reading inside of her.

_‘Camellia_

_Seeing I haven’t gotten any letters from you, your work there hasn’t gone that well. Next time I expect more from you or that you stay in the Manor. You would have done so much more there._

_But that was not the reason for this letter. The next school year starts soon, and I have a new mission for you. It’s easier than the last one but necessary. This year Delores Umbridge will be at the school and I want you to get on her good side. She knows that you stand with me, but not how important you are. Let it stay like that!. If we want later to take over the Ministry, we need someone inside. We already have a few, but she could come in handy._

_And remember the other mission regarding that Malfoy boy._

_I expect you to get this done as flawlessly as the last one. I expect no mistakes from you.’_

After reading it she takes a deep breath before sending the bird away with a reply. Then she walks out of the room and goes to her room. She needed time to think. The others looked at her worried but decided not to say anything. They also recognized the owl and knew she got a letter from _him_. Sirius made a mental note to go and see if she’s alright later.

When she came to her room, she started pacing. This summer has been the best summer she’s had since she came here. The first one was with the Weasleys, and that one didn’t go that well. She had just learnt about her parents and the other kids in the house avoided her. The next one wasn’t that bad. At least, not before and after the events with Bellatrix. She got to spend a lot of time with Draco. Laugh, smile, tears of joy. Yes, what happened with Bellatrix was bad, but if you look away from that, then she had an amazing holiday. Then there's this one. She didn’t get to do much the two first weeks, but the next month and a half had been good. She got to spend a lot of time with Sirius and make memories she could hold dear after he was gone.

Melia wasn’t ready to start at Hogwarts yet, but she had to. She had to be strong and show no weakness. She’s lucky she has Draco there to help her. If it hadn’t been for him supporting her through the year, then she would have broken down long ago. Thanks to him, she’s staying together and not in pieces.

She continued pacing the room, trapped in her thoughts. Then a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. The person came in and sat himself down on one of the armchairs. He indicates for her to sit down too, which she does. They sit there for a few minutes in silence; a comfortable one. Then he decides to break that silence.

“I never got to see your room before I came here the first time last year, and you definitely have a way nicer room than me.”

She chuckles, “I haven’t seen your room, so I don’t know.”

“What did the letter say?”

“A new mission. A new teacher is coming to the school and he wants me to get on her good side. She knows I’m on his side. They need her for something.”

“So, they’re using you to get to her?” she nods “Are you going to do it?”

“I have no choice. He said he expects no mistakes. He wants it to go flawlessly.”

He takes a deep breath, thinking about what to say next, “I’m sorry,” she looks at him, questioning, “I’m sorry all this is happening to you. You shouldn’t have had to go through all this. You weren’t supposed to come here until _he_ was gone.”

She smiles at him, “You don’t have to be sorry. There was a reason I came here earlier than expected. Maybe it was to meet you or meet the trio and Draco. There are so many possibilities, but I know the spell was supposed to bring me back when it felt like I was ready. Let’s just wait and see why. Okay?”

He nods his head at her before trying to bring her down to the kitchen saying that dinner is ready. She keeps saying that she’s not hungry, but he says that even if she’s not going to eat, she has to sit with them. They leave for Hogwarts soon and he wants to have some time with her. And with that she goes down with him, she also wants to spend time with him. When they get down everyone’s already sitting down, waiting for Sirius and Melia. She tried to eat a little, but she was too stressed inside to make it go down. The others have stopped trying to get her to eat since they have seen what happens if they force it on to her.

Everyone talked and laughed and was happy Harry got to go back to Hogwarts. Melia wouldn’t say she’s jealous. But she wishes the things she did was for something good so when she gets praised, it’s for something she did to help instead of something she did to make it worse. In this story, Harry was the hero, whilst she was the villain.

A few days later everyone was getting ready for Hogwarts. Melia was standing in the living room, playing the piano one more time before she had to go. Again, she played ‘fly’ and Sirius came this time too. When she was done, she looked up to see him standing right behind her.

“I wanted to play one more time before we left.”

He smiled at her, “That’s okay, but we have to leave now.”

She stops him before he’s able to leave, “Wait, I want to say goodbye here. Then you’ll have more time with Harry at the station.”

“How did you know- you know what never mind that,” she gets up from the chair and hugs him. They stay like that for a few minutes in silence before Sirius takes out a letter and gives it to her, “Don’t worry, it’s from Hogwarts.” She takes it out and starts reading it with Sirius looking over her shoulder.

_‘Dear Melia Black Withlock_

_We are sorry for the delay of this letter, but you have been chosen as this year’s prefect for Slytherin. You can find the badge in the envelope._

_Congratulations!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

Melia smiles widely at both her name and the fact that she gets to be a prefect together with Draco! They hug once more before going to meet the others in the hallway. She gets her bag, says goodbye to everyone, including Kreacher, and leaves with everyone else.

  
  



	40. a happy little family

Everyone is walking towards the platform. Melia walks in the back with Harry and Mad-Eye, then they hear a set of paws coming towards them. They recognize him right away. Melia salutes him jokingly while Harry follows him.

“Are you barking mad _?_ You'll blow the entire operation!” Sirius just growls at him before leading the way. Melia stays behind. “Aren’t you going to talk to him.” She shakes her head with a small smile before waving goodbye to him and walking towards the platform. When she gets there, she sees Narcissa and Lucius, but no Draco. _He must be already on the train._ She goes over to the two and gives Nissi a hug before saying goodbye and walking into the train.

Melia almost forgot that she was a prefect this year, so she almost forgot to go to the prefect compartment. She stepped in and saw Ron and Hermione. She waved at them before going to where Draco was sitting. When he noticed her, he got up from where he was sitting and gave her a very passionate kiss, which she returned. They break apart, foreheads sticking together.

“I’ve missed you too,” she whispers to him. He chuckles and he leads her to where he was sitting. Melia starts to tell him about her summer and he tells her too. Then when the train starts moving someone comes into their compartment to tell all the prefects about what they’re supposed to do this year. Melia is so happy she got to be a prefect but also feels a little bad since it was supposed to be Pansy and not her. She shoves that thought to the back of her head and leans on Draco’s shoulder. A few minutes later, she was fast asleep.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Umbridge had just introduced herself and everyone was not looking forward to having her as a teacher this year. Especially Melia, seeing that she had to “get on her good side”. Which wasn’t the case just for her. She knew that Lucius would make Draco do it too and join that squad she makes later that year.

“Now everyone. Off to their beds. Prefects, please show your first years the way to your house's common room,” Melia and Draco said goodbye to the others before walking to the far end of the table where the first years were sitting. Draco went over a few rules with them before they started to lead the way to their common room.

“This is your common room where you’ll be staying a lot. The two stairs over there,” he says pointing to the dorm rooms, “Is the dorm rooms. To the left is the boys and to the right is the girls.”

Melia noticed that he forgot something, “Remember to tell that the boys aren’t allowed to go into the girl’s dorm and the other way around.”

He chuckles, “And the boys aren’t allowed into the girl's dorm and the other way around. Your trunk and other possessions have already been placed in your new dorms.” He then ushers them away and walks over to Melia. “Like we followed that rule?”

She laughs at him before following him to where the others are sitting. Then a little girl ran up to them. Melia kneeled down and gave her a hug. When they broke apart, Draco lifted the girl up and brought her over to the sofa with them. He placed her in his lap and Melia nuzzled up beside them. They started to talk about their summers, but before they were able to finish their conversation. All of them had fallen asleep, exhausted. Blaise went over to them and wrapped a blanket around them.

“Is it just me, or do they look like one happy little family?” Pansy suddenly blurs out, the other looks at her in question, “Rosie has the same grey-ish eyes as Draco and she has the same hair colour and nose as Melia. She could practically be their child.”

Daphne chuckles, “I have never thought about it, but you’re right. She looks like their child.”

“Maybe she really is their child,” Blaise jokes.

“Ye, because Melia was pregnant at five…”

“I was joking!” They laughed at him before parting their ways towards their dorms, leaving the three alone. When the hour had passed midnight, Draco woke up and kissed both of their heads before waking them up. They said goodbye to Rosie before walking towards their new dorms. Both of them walked up the stairs and when they got to the top, there were two doors with their names on them. Draco gave her a goodnight kiss before they went separate ways.

She opened the door and was stunned by how big it was. The room was just as big as a normal dorm, but it had one bed instead of four. On the right wall in the middle was a four-poster bed and, on the wall, right in front was a long desk. In the far-right corner of the desk, was Diana’s cage. The walls had a beautiful dark green flowered wallpaper and the room was warmer than her previous room.

On the left wall, there was a door that led to the bathroom and on the opposite wall, there was another door that led to Draco’s room. She went back to her room to change before walking over to his room. When she walked in there, Draco was standing shirtless by his bed.

“Like what you see?”

She blushed and walked over to the bed and laid down under the blankets. He came over to her and kissed her before moving the blankets over so he could lay down beside her. He laid his hand around her waist and moved her closer. She laid her head on his bare chest, listening to his heartbeat until she fell asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	41. mathilda

“Good morning, children!” Umbridge says as she walks in. “Ordinary. Wizarding. Level. Examinations… more commonly known as OWLS. It is not an understatement to say your fifth-year examinations will in many respects determine your futures. Study hard and you will be rewarded! Fail to do so, and the consequences may be...severe.”

Some textbooks start floating out of the cupboard and distribute themselves to the students. They land with a thud. ‘ _Dark Arts Defense: Basic for Beginners’, I already hate this…_

“Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly... uneven. But you will be pleased to know that from now on you will be following a carefully structured, _Ministry-approved_ course of defensive magic...”

Hermione raises her hand, “There's nothing in here about actually _using_ defensive spells.”

She lets out a silent laugh, “ _Using_ spells? I can't imagine why you would need to _use_ spells in my classroom.”

“We're not going to use magic?”

Hermione speaks up again, “But surely the whole _point_ of Defense Against the Dark Arts-”

Umbridge cuts her off, “Wizards much older and cleverer than yourself have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, _risk-free_ way-”

“What use is _that?_ If we're going to be attacked it won't be ‘risk free’-”

“Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class,” she sneers at Harry before her voice becomes instantly sweet. Draco laughs beside Melia who punches him in the stomach. “It is the view of the Ministry that a _theoretical_ knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations--which, after all, is what school is all about.”

“And how's theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?”

“There is nothing out there, dear. Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?”

“Oh, I don't know. Maybe _Lord Voldemort_?” everyone cringes and Umbridge freezes. Melia just looks at Umbridge with a blank face. The professor looks at her for a moment and Melia smirks at her.

“Let me make this quite plain. You have been told that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie._ ”

“It's not a lie. I saw him, I fought him-”

“Detention, Mr. Potter!”

“So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?”

Umbridge looks over the class for a small moment with fake sorrow, “Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident.”

“It was murder. Voldemort _killed_ him and you know it-!”

Umbridge looks like she’s about to explode, which she did, “ _ENOUGH!_ ” The whole class flinches. She regains her posture and talks with her sweet voice again. “Friday, Mr. Potter...My office.”

The rest of the class was the most boring class all the students had ever had. Theory isn’t fun when you have a teacher like her. When the class was done everyone was groaning in exhaustion. _How can you get so tired after just one class?_ Melia wasn’t feeling hungry, so she went to the library to read some.

She sat down on one of the sofas farthest away from everyone else, to get some privacy. ‘Mathilda’ was the book she was reading. Melia said she would read it with Draco, but she couldn’t wait to read it. After about 20 minutes of reading alone, a young girl came and sat down beside her. Melia looked up from the book and smiled at her. She put her arm around the girl’s shoulders and started reading out loud in a small whisper. Rosie had never read a muggle book before and was awed by the story.

When Melia was halfway through the book, she started to get sleepy. Rosie took the book from her and put it on the table before getting a blanket for Melia. Then she took out her homework from her bag and started working while Melia was asleep. Rosie had grown quite fond of both Melia and Draco. When her sister graduated last year, she was scared of being alone, but she wasn’t. Her two older friends would take care of her. She loves them both and sees them as her second family. Not that she doesn’t like her own, but it’s good to have someone here at Hogwarts.

After lunch, Draco came. He looked at Melia before noticing Rosie, “She fell asleep about half an hour ago.” He made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth before going to sit beside Rosie. She was beginning to struggle with the potion’s homework, so he helped her. When they were done, Melia woke up and saw the picture unfolding in front of her. She smiled at the two of them before she snatched Rosie and hugged her from behind. They laughed some and then the two of them asked if Draco would want to read for them. He picked up the book and read from where they left off. Melia placed her chin on top of Rosie’s head and wrapped her in the blanket too.

They sat there until dinner, completely forgetting about class. They were so happy in that moment that either of them wanted the day to end. And it ended earlier than they wanted when Professor Snape came and told them off. Melia and Draco took the blame so that Rosie wouldn’t be in trouble. He left them all with a warning. The three also left to go to dinner. Rosie went to her friends while the two others went to their friends. Melia looked over to the girl and winked at her, which earned her a giggle from the girl. Draco placed a hand on Melia’s lower back and kissed her forehead.

“I love you.”

She moved closer to him and brushed his ear with her lips, “I know.” She moves back and smirks at him. He shakes his head with a small smile plastered on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	42. potion gone wrong

For the past few weeks, Umbridge has been observing the classes. She has been embarrassing the teachers and been a real pain. McGonagall spoke up to her a few days ago and was called out to be disloyal to the Ministry. Umbridge won that discussion for sure. She has also been setting some rules everywhere. Like boys and girls can’t be in close radius to each other, which Melia and Draco haven't been following. It’s not like Umbridge would dare try doing something about it. She’s been rather scared of Melia and doesn’t call her out for anything. All these rules are ridiculous in every way, but Dumbledore, or anyone else for that matter, can’t do anything about it.

Then something else happened. Umbridge wanted to throw out Professor Trelawney. Dumbledore and McGonagall both stepped in and she got to stay at the school even though she wasn’t allowed to teach anymore because of toad face.

Now Melia was sitting with ‘Mione under the Whomping Willow. She wanted to have a place where they could talk in peace without being disturbed.

“We’re going to have a meeting this weekend. In Hogsmeade. Would you like to come?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“I would love to join your army thing, ‘Mione, but I can’t. You know I can’t…”

“But-”

“And if they find my name on that list, I’m done for it.”

She looks down, “I know, but maybe you could just teach a few classes? Not every time.”

Melia smiles at her, “Maybe.”

“And, about your name. I could find a spell that erases it when someone outside of the… army thing sees it.”

“I would love that!”

“Then you can be there in spirit,” they sit there for some time in a comfortable silence, just looking out on the horizon. When it was starting to get darker, they went inside. Hermione went to her common room, while Melia went to the hospital wing. Her voice has been bugging her, so she wanted to see if Madam Pomfrey had anything to ease the pain. She smiled at her when she went in.

“Do you have anything for my voice?” she whispered loud enough for her to hear.

“Oh, dear. I’m sorry. You know I don’t.” Melia nodded her head slowly and went for the door, “Wait. I may have something. I have been working on a potion that may help!” Madam Pomfrey went to her storage room to look for the potion. After a few minutes, she came back with a small purple potion. She gave it to Melia and warned her that the potion would make her sleepy, so she would have to take it before she went to bed.

Melia walked back to her common room where everyone had already gone to bed. When she came inside, Draco was sitting on her bed wondering where she went. She told him that she went to the hospital wing to get something for her voice, not wanting to tell him about the army thing that Hermione told her about yet. She went to the bathroom to make herself ready for bed and then joined him. She took the potion and fell asleep almost instantly.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

When she woke up, Melia felt very groggy and was feeling pretty under the weather. She started to feel nauseous. Then she felt it coming up. She ran to the bathroom and puked up everything she ate the previous day. Draco ran over to her and held up her hair. _She didn’t tell me it would have side effects!_ When she was done, he scooped her up and moved her over to the bed. He wrapped her in a blanket and felt her forehead. ****She’s burning****. He kissed her on the head before taking a sweater and running out. The gang was sitting there, waiting for them.

Blaise had a mischievous smirk on his face, “You came out late today.”

“I don’t have time for your bullshit right now!” He hurried out of the common room leaving them confused. He ran all the way to the hospital wing. When he went inside, Madam Pomfrey almost yelled at him for being too loud. He told her what’s happening to Melia and she came with him right away. When the two of them came into the common room, everyone was afraid of what was happening.

She followed him up to the prefect’s bedroom and was stunned by what she saw. Pomfrey hurried over to her and started to take her temperature. “I have tried the potion on many students, but no one has reacted this way before!” Draco looked paler than ever. Blaise and the three girls came through the door and their faces fell. Blaise placed a hand on Draco’s shoulder. It was like he didn’t even feel the touch. He was standing completely still, his face blank of any emotion.

Madam Pomfrey went over to him, “She’ll be alright. I’ll tell the teachers about this, so you two don’t have to go to class today. Look after her and give her this potion when she wakes up.” She hands him a potion and gives him a sympathetic look. He moves over to Melia and takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. The others leave without a word to their classes, seeing that Draco is in no state to talk.

Draco goes to the bathroom and comes out later with a cloth and soaks it with water before pressing it against her forehead. When he’s done, he sits there looking at her. This reminds him too much of that summer. He couldn’t do anything then and can’t do anything now. He feels useless just watching her lie there in pain. He takes the bowl back to the bathroom. When he comes back, he lays down beside her and moves her closer to him. Draco closes his eyes, trying to sleep away his worries.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia’s eyes flutter open. She looks around the room wondering what is going on. She moves her hand up to her forehead and notices it's soaked with sweat. She tries to sit up, but someone comes towards her and pushes her down again. She looks up and sees a pair of stormy grey eyes. He takes a potion up to her lips and she swallows without questioning. Still confused about the situation. He sits down beside her and takes a warm cloth over her forehead.

“Hey, there,” he smiles. “Feeling better?” She nods her head slowly, “You had a bad reaction on the potion Madam Pomfrey gave you. She said you’d be fine.” She nods at him and closes her eyes, trying to sleep again. A few hours later, Melia wakes up again and feels a lot better than she did before. Draco helped her out of bed, even though she didn’t need it. After she was done in the shower, she and Draco went down to the common room. The second she came down, she was bombarded by hugs. Pansy, Daphne and Millicent wouldn’t let go of her until they made sure she was alright again. They moved her over to the sofa with them and pampered her with questions.

“I’m alright guys,” her face falls instantly.

“What’s wrong?! Are you alright?”

“My voice… It doesn’t hurt when I talk.”

“I guess the potion worked after all,” Draco said as he kissed her head.

Pansy snickered, “Ye, after almost killing you.”

“That was a bit dramatic, Pans,” they chuckled.

_I have my voice back..._


	43. hugs and kisses

The sun was shining bright but gave no warmth on this cold winter day. Melia and Draco were on their way to Hogsmeade. She was going to the meeting but needed Draco to cover for her while she was there. Umbridge needed to see her come back with him and not the others. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end, he said yes after she promised him lots of hugs and kisses. He went into the Three Broomsticks while she went for the Meeting place.

When Melia went inside everyone stopped talking and stared at her. Hermione got up from her chair and hugged her, “I’m glad you could make it. How are you? I heard from Draco you got sick.”

“I’m alright, it went over fast,” she said, smiling at her before going to sit in the front with the two boys. Ron hugged her too and asked if she was alright. She smiled at him and said she’s alright. Harry just gave her an awkward wave, but she didn’t return it. They were still waiting for a few more people to come before they could start. Everyone who came in glared at her, but by now she’s gotten used to it and brushed it off. When everyone arrived, Hermione started the meeting.

“Um… hi. So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher… a proper teacher, one who's had real experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts-”

A younger boy cuts her off, “Why?”

“Why? Because You-Know-Who is back, you tosspot!”

“So he says,” he nods towards Harry.

“So Dumbledore says--”

“So Dumbledore said because he says. The point is, where's the proof?”

“If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed...” a creepy looking guy says and Cho stands perfectly still, refusing to cry.

Harry gets angry, “I'm not going to talk about Cedric. So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out now.” He then turns to Hermione, “Let's go. They're just here because they think I'm some sort of freak--”

“Harry, wait-”

Then Luna speaks up, “Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?”

“Yes. I've seen it. A fully-formed stag Patronus,” she looks at Melia, “Melia can also perform one.”

“Blimey, I didn’t know both of you could do that,” neither did Harry and Ron and looked at her with surprise.

“He- he also killed a Basilisk with the sword in Dumbledore's office!”

“It’s true!”

“And third year he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once!”

“And last year he did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh!”

“Wait. Look--it all sounds great when you say it like that. But the truth is, a lot of it was luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I nearly always had help.”

“He’s just being modest,” Harry shuts her down. “No, Hermione. I'm not. Facing this stuff in real life...it isn't like school at all. In school, if you make a mistake you can just...try again tomorrow. But out there...when you're a second away from being murdered...or watching a friend die right before your eyes...You just...you don't know what it's like.”

“You’re right, Harry. We don’t. That's why we need your help. Because if we're to have any chance of beating V-Voldemort…” Melia flinches by the use of his name. She has almost forgotten that he’s called that since she’s so used to calling him ‘My Lord’.

Nigel, a young Gryffindor speaks up, “Is he really back?” Harry nods his head at him. Then The four in front write their names on the list before sending it around. ‘Dumbledore's Army’ is written on top of the parchment. After everyone had written their name, Hermione put the spell on Melia’s name. She smiles gratefully at her. Almost everyone had left and a few were still standing.

“You should be there at the first lesson, Melia.”

She looks at Harry a little surprised, “Oh, yes. If you’d like that. I’ll be there.” Melia said goodbye to them and went to the Three Broomsticks. Draco had ordered pumpkin juice for her and she smiled widely when she saw it. She kissed him in the lips before sitting down. This is their first date. They have never been able to have one. In third year, they weren't even together yet. In their fourth year, Melia had so much more to think about than going on a date. And her state after that summer didn’t make her want to go on a date. So now, after almost one year of dating, they get to go out on a real date.

They drank up their drinks before going around Hogsmeade. Melia hadn’t been there much, so Draco showed her around and they even got to take a picture together, but Draco snatched it from her before she was able to, saying that she would get it later. She pounded, but let it go. The last place they went to was the bookshop. They tried to find a book they could read later, as an end to their date. After a long time of looking at many, many books, they chose one. Then they went back to the castle, tired and cold.

When they came back, they went right up to Draco’s room because his is warmer than Melia’s. Melia flicked her fingers and her clothes changed into some sweatpants and his sweatshirt. “That’s unfair,” she sticks her tongue out at him and moves over to his bed. “And is that my sweater? I wondered where it went. I even had to ask for a new one. When did you even take it?”

“Before Christmas last year…” he chuckles before taking one of his other sweaters over his head. Then he moved over to the bed and kissed her. She melted right into the kiss. He moved so he was over her. She smiled into the kiss and he moved off her. “I thought we were going to read.”

“I like this better, and you did promise me hugs and kisses,” she cups his cheeks and starts kissing him again. “Yep, I definitely like this better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	44. nine pm sharp

“So, um, the first thing we should learn is the disarming charm,” Harry starts off pretty awkwardly. Everyone stands in a semicircle around a dummy that’s supposed to look like a death eater. It has a mask and it towers over them. Melia laughs at it, thinking it’s pretty weird. Neville stands in front of it and points his wand at it. Then he shouts out the spell and his wand shoots over their heads and everyone ducks. “I’m hopeless.”

Melia notices Harry’s hesitance and moves towards Neville, “No, you’re not. You're just flourishing your wand too much. Here, try it like this.” Melia flicks her wand and the wand in the dummies hand flies towards her. She catches it gracefully.

“Okay, let’s try the wand movement first and then we can start on the spell again,” Harry says and moves beside Melia. She shows the movement while Harry explains. One girl was able to do it by the end of the lesson. Melia said goodbye to everyone before leaving. She went back to her common room and found the gang sitting there. But there was someone there she didn’t recognize at first. When she moved closer she saw that it was Theodore Nott with his arm over Millicent’s shoulders. Melia smirked at her and sat herself down by Pansy.

“I see all of us have someone now,” they look at her questioning. “There’s me and Draco, Pansy and Daph and now Millie and Nott. Well, not Blaise though.”

He glared at her, “Thanks for pointing it out.” All of them laugh at him and Millie looks over at Melia. She looks so happy and it makes Melia glad to see her smiling so broadly. Then Melia feels a sudden pain on her left arm. She tries to not show it, but Draco notices.

“Hey, love. Why don’t we start to go to bed? It’s getting pretty late, and you seem tired.”

“Yes, you’re right. Let’s go.” The two of them start walking towards their bedrooms. Melia goes to hers and he goes to his, but Draco walks over to her room. “You noticed?”

“Of course I noticed. I have seen you in pain so many times, that I just know.”

“I’m sorry--”

“What are you sorry about, none of this is your fault. How many times do I have to tell you?”

She smiles up at him and pecks him on the lips. He snakes his hands around her waist and kisses her. She returns the kiss right away. They move over to the bed and Draco lies on top of her. He tries to move his hand under her shirt, but she stops him and turns him around.

“No,” she chuckles. “I want to read that book today. We never got to start it last time.” He smirks at her, which earns him a small slap from Melia. She goes to get the book and nuzzles into his side. Even though she’s gotten her voice back, Draco insists on reading. She doesn't mind it at all and likes it better that way.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

‘Mione had been acting weird the past few days. Today she gave Melia the password for the Gryffindor common room and told her to go inside at 9 pm sharp. She has no idea what ‘Mione would want, but she didn’t want to question it. Draco may have also been in on whatever is going to happen because he told her to wear something nice, but casual. So he must know what’s going to happen.

Melia put on one of her checkered dark blue dresses and put a cropped light blue cardigan over the dress. She combined some white sneakers with the outfit. She put her hair in a low bun and put on some lip gloss before walking out of the bathroom.

“You look amazing, love,” he says while she moves over to him where he sits on the bed. She moves between his legs and puts her hands around his neck, kissing him lightly on the lips. “I know I do,” she says cheekily and chugs lightly on his hair and a small groan escapes from his lips. She smiles into the kiss.

“You’re going to be late--” she just keeps kissing him, “Come on, love. What are you so afraid of?” Melia looks him in the eyes and takes a deep breath. “My mark is stinging, not in the way when _he_ calls for us, but it tickles in an uncomfortable way.”

He furrows his brows. This is the first time he hears about it. He knew that her mark had been burning, but not that it hurt without _him_ calling for her. “Could it be side effects from the spell? You have been using it a lot lately,” she moves one finger across her mark, feeling it sting even more when she touches it. Draco takes her arm and kisses the mark before moving her sleeve down again. Then he ushers her out of the room telling her that Hermione would be angry with both of them if she’s late. And with that, she walked towards the Gryffindor common room.

Melia looked around, looking to see if any teachers were close by before saying the password. The portrait opens up and she walks inside. The room was unusually quiet, but she didn’t think anything of it and continued walking inside. When she came inside, there was no one there. She was confused but sat herself down on the sofa. She looked down at her watch and saw that it was five minutes until 9 pm and Hermione did say to meet her sharp, so she decided to wait.

When the time hit 9 pm sharp, a group of people came down the stairs yelling different things. “Happy Birthday / surprise etc.” she smiled widely at them all. Hermione in the front with Harry, Ron, Ginny, the twins and a few other Gryffindors from her year.

“Since we didn’t get to do it last year, we wanted to do it this year!” ‘Mione says and embraces her.

“We had to argue with your Slytherin friends for a long time for this,” Ron hits Harry in the arm. He rubs his neck with one of his hands and on the other hand, Melia notices him holding something. “Here, it’s a gift from us three. I hope you’ll like them,” she takes the package and opens it to reveal three books with three different cards. They told her to open them later, she hugged them all and then the party started. Some others came because they heard about it being a party.

When the clock neared 11 pm, Melia went back to her common room after saying thank you for the thousand times that night. She walked straight to her bedroom and found Draco sitting at her desk, reading a book. He puts down his book and walks over to her when he notices her. He kisses her quick on the lips before taking her hand and leading her out of the dungeons and all the way to the room of requirements. She has no idea what he’s doing but follows him nonetheless.

She had not been expecting to see what she saw when Melia walked inside. There was a fireplace on one of the walls with a big red sofa in front of it and in the middle of the room there was a table set for two. She looked over at him questioningly, “Happy first anniversary, pumpkin.” _Of course, we had our first kiss on my birthday last year. I completely forgot!_ Melia smiled widely and he brought her over to the table, moving the chair out for her and then sitting down himself.

They had an amazing dinner with her favourite foods and had some ice cream after dinner. Now they were sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, just drowning in each other’s presence.

“I almost forgot,” he says and reaches for something in his pocket. “Here, I know how much you like pictures, so I framed it for you. That way it’ll last longer.” Melia looked at the picture and recognised it right away. It was the picture they took on their first date a few weeks ago.

“Thank you, love.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BONUS CHAPTER: the three letters  
  


****(A/N) I called it a bonus chapter, but it has some important information which you should read!** **

Melia decided to open the three letters the day after her birthday when Draco was on quidditch practice. She didn’t know if they wanted him to know about the content in the letters and went to read them alone. She opened Ron’s first;

_‘Dear Melia_

_Happy birthday!_

_I’m sorry for being a bad friend. From the first time I met you I have been a bad person towards you and a bad friend. I shouldn’t have judged you for what your parents were before I even knew you. I know that now and I hope it’s not too late for me to start over? To be your friend for real this time. I know that you getting the mark wasn’t something you wanted and that you didn’t have a choice._

_I should have said this earlier, but I forgive you._

_Ron’_

When she was done, she wiped the tears that spilt and placed the parchment back into the envelope after reading it over a few more times to make sure she read right. Then she took a few deep breaths before opening the one from Hermione.

_‘Melia,_

_Happy birthday my beautiful best friend._

_I hope you liked our surprise! We got some help from Draco to put it together and while we kept you occupied in our common room, he went to make that dinner for you. It took a lot of time to convince the boys to help Draco put it together, but after I threatened them and told them they wouldn’t be helping him but you, they agreed._

_Oh, and I hope you liked the books! Rosie helped me pick them out. She’s so lovely! And…’_

“God, ‘Mione. You wrote two whole paragraphs on Rosie and the books,” she says to herself and chuckles under her breath.

_‘Anyways, I just want you to know that I love you and that I wish you a Happy birthday._

_From Hermione’_

Melia shakes her head playfully, laughing at the letter. She puts it back in the envelope and takes the letter from Harry. She looks at it, scared to open it. She has no idea what he could have written in the letter and thought about not opening it, but after having an internal battle with herself, she decided to open it.

_‘Melia,_

_I know I have said this before, but I’ll say it again. I’m sorry and this time I mean it. I know now that you didn’t have a choice and I should have seen it earlier, but I was just so angry at everything that I wasn’t able to think right. Cedric had just died because of me and I barely made it out of the graveyard that day, and I took it out on you. If you’ll see it in your heart to forgive me then I would be more than happy. I’ve been a bad friend and I want to make up for those days. If you can’t then I’ll understand._

_Harry’_

Melia cries for the second time that day. Both of the boys forgave her and apologised for being such bad friends. She wasn’t sure if what she read in both of them were real and had to read it over multiple times to make sure it wasn’t a prank. Even though they both hurt her, she understands their point of view and would forgive them both. They were, after all, some of her first friends at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	45. clang

Filch was running down the hall trying not to be seen or heard. He has spotted Cho and a few other students and tried to follow them to where the DA meeting would be held. The students kept looking back to see if they were being watched. When they thought the coast was clear, they went inside. Filch follows them quietly but meets only a large wood door turning into stone. His smile falls as Mrs Norris leaps into his arms.

Inside, the members of the army are learning the stunning spell, Stupefy. Melia doesn't like this spell after Harry used it on her in their third year and decided not to attend that lesson. Many of them tried it and failed, like Nigel. He sent both Harry and himself flying across the room. The most fun part was when Hermione did it to Ron, wiping that smug look off his face.

Now that Filch knew where their meetings were held, he placed himself outside of where the door would normally appear. But that didn’t stop the army. There was more than one way into the room of requirements and were able to sneak away from him.

 _CLANG;_ Educational Decree No. 82: All Students will submit to questioning about suspected illicit activities.

A lot of students were standing in line to be questioned by Umbridge. Melia and her gang didn’t have to answer anything thanks to Melia. Last week she and toad face had a small encounter and now she doesn't even dare try to do anything when it comes to Melia.

Then the twins did something that Melia praised them for. They placed a heart-shaped candy box with a bow on and a card reading ‘to Mr Filch’. He fell right into the trap and got boils all over his face.

 _CLANG;_ Educational Decree No. 98: Those wishing to join the INQUISITORIAL SQUAD for extra credit may sign up in the High Inquisitor's Office.

And then it came. The Inquisitorial squad. Oh, how Melia hated it, but Draco on the other hand quite liked it and she hated how he acted in front of others when he was wearing that stupid badge. Pansy did also join it, together with Crabbe and Goyle and they acted the same as Draco. Like power sick people, all of them. Melia hated more the way they acted when they had the badges than her being a member herself. She knew the only reason she was wearing it was because of the Dark Lord. If he hadn’t made her do the mission than she would never be in that stupid squad.

Then at the last lesson before winter break, Neville was finally able to do the disarming charm! Melia got so happy that she embraced him in a big hug right away. Neville gladly returned the hug and thanked her and Harry for the help. Everyone said ‘Happy Christmas’ to everyone before leaving. Melia took ‘Mione to her dorm room. She got a lot of weird glances when they got inside, but Melia just glared back at them and they looked away like cowards.

“I shouldn’t be here.”

“Yes, and I shouldn’t know the password for the Gryffindor common room, but I do.” Melia goes towards the far right corner of her room and removes the rug. She pats the floor with her hand before finding what she’s looking for. She removes one of the planks to reveal a small wooden box. Melia opens it and takes out one of the letters that have a black envelope. “Here,” she says as she gives it to Hermione.

She reads it over a few times before turning to Melia who now sits on her bed. “So the reason for you joining that squad was because of _him_?” she nods. “That’s why you said you would be done for it if anyone found out that you were part of the DA?” Melia sighs heavily and flops down on the bed. Hermione reads over the letter one more time before laying down too, facing Melia. She opens her mouth to say something, but she gets interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

Draco comes in with a smirk plastered on his lips, “I heard there was a Gryffindor down here and I thought the only one brave enough to do that had to be you, love.” He eyes Hermione lying besides Melia, “I hope you’re not cheating on me with a--”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” she says while holding up her hand. “And we were just leaving.” She took Hermione's hand and took her out of the dungeons.

“What was that? Did you two fight or something?”

“No, not yet-- I just hate how he and the others act when they have that stupid badge on. It makes me so angry.”

“I understand.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

_I’m moving down a dark corridor. I look to my right and see my reflection. Nagini. I’m moving closer and closer to a large black door by the end of the dark corridor. The door opens and I walk-- no slithers towards something. Someone. A person is standing ahead of me, holding a lit up wand. I move closer and closer until I see his flaming red hair. He turns around slowly, looking down at me with terrified eyes. The next thing I know, I’m starting to attack him. Biting him all over. ‘Stop, please stop! I don’t want to hurt him’, but it doesn't stop until he’s all bloodied up, lying on the cold floor._

“Melia! Melia, wake up!” Draco looks over at the professor, “What’s happening to her?!”

Severus moves towards her and then she wakes up. She pants heavily and looks around confused. She sits up with the help of Draco. The professor tells him to help her out of bed and follow him. They follow him all the way to Dumbledore’s office. Melia is still pretty out of it and tries to think about what happened, but her mind is running around and she couldn’t think straight.

“You wished to see me, Headmaster?”

“Yes, Severus. I'm afraid we daren't wait even until morning,” he looks behind Severus and sees the two Slytherin students. “Melia?”

“She seems to have had the same-- dream as Mr Potter here.” Dumbledore nods his head and Severus takes Harry’s arm and brings him down the stairs. Draco places Melia in one of the chairs and moves away some of the hair from her face.

Minerva moves towards her, “Didn’t your parents teach you Occlumency?”

She swallows hard, “They did, I’ve never had one of these dreams before, so why now?”

Dumbledore shares a few glances with Minerva, “I don’t know. For now, I think you should go back to your dorm and keep your mind shut.”

Melia nods and gets up from her chair. While walking down to their common room, Melia started to smile widely. “What is it?”

“It’s the first time he has talked to me in months.” He looks at her with sorrow before saying the password and walking inside. Melia didn’t feel like sleeping right now and went for one of the sofas. Draco got a blanket and wrapped it around her. She laid her head on his lap while he stroked her hair. Melia tried to relax, but every time she tried, her mind started thinking about that dream.

_That’s the first time I’ve ever had a dream like that. My dreams are always of my own memories. But why did I have a dream from Nagini's point of view? Does this mean-- no it can’t be. It’s not possible. He disappeared before I was born._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	46. a toast for the hero

“Harry Potter the boy who stopped the Dark Lord. Friend to mudbloods and blood-traitors alike-- if my poor Mistress only knew…”

“Kreacher!” Melia steps down the stairs, “Go do something more useful than insulting Harry.”

He bows his head, “Of course, Mistress. Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black.”

“Sorry about that,” she says while scratching her neck. Then Sirius comes up behind her and saves her from the awkwardness, “He was never very pleasant, even when I was a boy-”

“To you,” she says with a chuckle. He hits her playfully, “Hey!” Melia moves her hands up in surrender before walking to the kitchen, where the others are sitting. She places herself beside Hermione by the table and waits for Harry to come so they can start the dinner. A few moments later Harry and Mr Weasley come in. After the dinner, Molly gave all the kids gifts, even Melia. She hadn’t expected it at all and opened it carefully. It was a green sweater with a big ‘M’ in front. Melia smiled widely and hugged Molly right away, telling her how much she liked it. Then they decided to have a toast for Harry--

“A toast to Mr Harry Potter, without whom I would not be here,” all of them raise their glasses. “Harry.”

Everyone says his name, even Sirius, and drinks. Melia looks down at her plate and places the glass down again. She gets up from her chair and walks towards her room. She gives a few sweets to Diana, saying Happy Christmas before picking out her dress for the night. She picks a black one with puffy see-through sleeves and puts on some short heels. Then she walks down the hall.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he would be toasting for me,” now it’s Harry’s turn to scratch his neck awkwardly. “It wasn’t just me. I just got to Dumbledore's office faster than you and--”

“Harry, I don’t care. You can have all the glory for all I care,” he opens his mouth to speak, but she cuts him off. “I have to go now, talk later?” Harry nods his head. She looks up and sees Sirius standing in the doorframe. She gives him a faint smile before taking her coat and apparating to Malfoy Manor. Melia was invited for a small gathering with a few people. Not like the one last time, just one with the Malfoy’s and their closest.

She stepped inside the manor and gave her coat to the house-elf. She then stepped inside the drawing-room, where everyone would be seated. “I’m sorry if I’m a little late, I was caught up in some other business.”

Draco moves towards her and kisses her cheek, “That’s alright, love. We just started eating.” He leads her to the table and pushes out the chair for her before sitting down himself. She notices Bellatrix in her side view and gives her a little wave and a small teasing smile. Bellatrix looks like she could kill someone and tries to get up from her chair, but Narcissa stops her. Suddenly someone else comes in the door. Rosie and her family.

“Rosie?” Melia gets up from her chair and goes to hug her. “I didn’t know you were close with the Malfoy’s,” she says looking at Draco who moves his hands up in surrender. Melia shakes her head before raising up to greet her parents and sister.

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

The mother looks at her questioningly, “Mom, this is the girl I've been telling you about.”

“Oh, you’re Melia, right,” she nods her head, smiling. “It’s good to finally meet you. Rosie writes about you and Draco in her letters all the time.”

“Really?” she says and looks down at Rosie who just avoided her eyes. Melia chuckles and leads them to the table. At least she wasn’t the only one late. After an amazing dinner and some dessert, they moved to the living room, chatting and drinking coffee. Draco and Melia were sitting with Rosie’s sister, Raina, and Rosie. Raina told them all about her job in the ministry as an Auror. She had been doing a lot since she had graduated from Hogwarts and had a lot to tell.

“Hey, Rosie,” Melia whispers. “Do you remember that song from the book we read last week?”

“The one about the witches who sang to the dying muggle children they couldn’t save?”

“Yes, that one. Do you remember it?”

“Yes, why?”

“Come on,” she grabs Rosie’s hand and leads her to the piano that stands in the right corner. “I’ll play, you’ll sing. Okay?”

Rosie takes a deep nervous breath and Melia starts playing the intro of the song;

_“Tonight while the world is sleeping_

_And all of the children are dreaming_

_Snowflakes will softly be bringing_

_The magic of Christmas time_

_Red cotton stockings all lined up_

_Tinsel and lights on the tree top_

_Everywhere it’s all around us_

_The magic of Christmas time_

_Angels on high hear them calling_

_Wishes like stardust are falling_

_Hold on hold tight to_

_The magic of Christmas time_

_Downstairs the fire is swaying_

_To songs about reindeer and sleighing_

_Old holiday records are playing_

_The magic of Christmas time_

_This time of year brings laughter and love_

_When all of the celebration is done_

_In our hearts it lives on_

_It can last all year long_

_Angels on high hear them calling_

_Wishes like stardust are falling_

_Hold on hold tight to_

_The magic of Christmas time_

_Come and rejoice for the night is_

_Alive with the spirit of kindness_

_If you believe you will find it_

_The magic of Christmas time_

_Yes, if you believe you will find it_

_The magic of Christmas time"_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

****_“Camellia-- How’s your mission going?”_ ** **

“As expected my Lord. I have failed you before and I will not fail you again,” his infamous terrifying smirk appears on his face, for more than her answer.

“Good…” he started talking more about her mission and explaining more about the importance of the mission. But Melia couldn’t understand the confused looks of the other people in the room. When he was done and had left, Draco came up to her.

“What was that?”

“What?”

“The conversation. I didn’t-- We didn’t understand anything of it,” she looks at the others who nod their heads in agreement. _How couldn’t they have understood?_

_The song, 'The magic of Christmas time' by Taeyeon ☟_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	47. our last moments

Melia sat at the Slytherin table together with Draco and the others reading the daily prophet, “Do they really think Sirius did this? Than they're stupider than I thought!”

“Lower your voice, Melia!”

“I agree with them thinking it’s Bellatrix too though.”

“God, Melia. You’re going to be the death of me,” she looks over at the Gryffindor table where she sees the trio reading the article too, but then she notices Neville getting up from the bench and she decides to follow him. She follows him all the way up to the room of requirements. Melia walks up to him and rests her head on his shoulder.

“Fourteen years ago-- a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange used the Cruciatus Curse on my parents. She tortured them for information, but they never gave in. They've been--” he cuts himself off. “I'm quite proud to be their son. But I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to know just yet.”

“You’re going to make them proud, Neville and that's a promise.”

“Do you think she was the one who helped them escape? She has done it before.”

“I don’t know, Neville,” she says looking at the picture. “I don’t know.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Come in!” someone shouted from the other side of the door. Melia walked inside and sat herself down on the chair. “What can I do for you, Miss Withlock.”

“I’m here to ask for a few days off of school.”

“Why?”

“We both know something is going to happen at the end of this school year. It always happens something at the end of Harry’s school years. That’s why I’m asking to spend a few days at Grimmauld.”

Dumbledore nods his head at her and grants her a few days off. Melia walks to her dorm and packs a small bag, gives a kiss to Draco and a hug to Rosie before walking back to his office to use the floo network. She says the place she’s going and throws the powder on the floor. With a cloud of smoke, she arrives in the living room of Grimmauld. Melia calls for Kreacher, who gladly takes her bag, and walks to the kitchen. Sirius hugs her right away.

“I just got the letter, has something happened?”

She shakes her head, “No, I just wanted to spend some time with you. I hope you don’t mind?”

“Of course not. Oh, Remus and Tonks will be staying for a few days too, so you’ll see them some too.”

“That’s alright.”

For the next few days, Melia laughed a lot and made even more memories to bring along after his death. They baked, cleaned the house, annoyed Remus and Tonks, made Kreacher almost lose his mind and played some piano. Melia was even able to make Tonks confess her feelings for Remus to her and they ended up talking about boys all night.

“You’re going back to Hogwarts tomorrow, right?” Sirius asks as he sits himself down beside her on the sofa. She nods her head with a sad smile. “Are you sure something hasn’t happened? Is it about Draco? Or Harry? Or maybe-- you know, the Dark Lord?”

“No, nothing has happened. I just wanted to spend some time with you before--” her voice breaks as fresh tears start running down her face.

He wraps her in his arms, “Before what, Melia?”

“Before-- can you read for me? The book you and Regulus used to read as children?”

“Yes, of course.” He gets up from the sofa to get the book and comes back seconds later with the book. He sits himself back down and wraps one arm around Melia. He starts to read while she keeps crying in silence. She isn’t the one who usually cries like this, but this may be the last moment they have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	48. I'll hex you all

"Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you can remember. Allow it to fill you up. A corporeal Patronus is the most difficult to produce, but shield forms can also be extremely useful against a variety of opponents. Now, remember: Your Patronus can only protect you as long as you stay focused."

Melia walked around with Harry, instructing the others. Melia had learnt it when she was four and without a wand, so learning it to others wouldn't be hard for her. Almost half of the class had gotten it to work, but then every Patronus that was running around disappeared as they heard a loud thud. Melia furrows her brows in confusion and then she suddenly remembers something that something is going to happen, but she can't remember it. Then she remembered. She grabbed her Slytherin coat that had the Inquisitor squad pin on and ran out of the room.

She placed herself in back, witnessing the destruction of the wall up close. Melia locked eyes with 'Mione and mouthed a sorry to her. "Withlock?"

"Yes, Professor," she says, standing beside her. "Grab mister Potter with you and follow me. Argus, take the others." Melia nods her head and goes to him. When her back is turned from the squad, she looks at Harry with a pleading look. Hoping he comes without trouble. He looked like he was going to protest, but Hermione moved towards him and whispered something in his ear and he came with her. She smiled at her and took Harry's arm.

They started walking to Dumbledore's office. On the way there, Melia whispered her new mission to Harry trying to explain to him why she's doing this. He nodded through the whole explanation and she prayed that he wouldn't be angry at her later. They arrived at the office where Fudge, Shacklebolt and Percy Weasley were already waiting.

"All your fear mongering about You-Know-Who never fooled us for a minute. We saw your lies for what they were--a smokescreen for your bid to seize control of the Ministry!"

"Naturally," he answers with no care in the world.

Harry's eyes widen as he realizes what Dumbledore's doing, "Professor, no!" he turns to look at Umbridge. "He knew nothing about this! It was me!"

"Most noble of you, Harry, to try and shield me, but as has been pointed out, the Parchment clearly says 'Dumbledore's Army'--not 'Potter's' " he looks at him in disbelief. "I instructed Harry to form this organization--and I alone am responsible for its activities."

"Dispatch an owl to the Daily Prophet; if we hurry we should still make the morning edition. Dawlish, Shacklebolt: You will escort Dumbledore to Azkaban to await trial for conspiracy and sedition--"

"Ah, I thought we might hit that little snag. You seem to be labouring under the delusion that I am going to... what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' But I'm afraid I have no intention of going to Azkaban."

"Enough of this rubbish. _TAKE HIM_!" Umbridge shouts. As they raise their wands Dumbledore smiles a warm, encouraging smile at Harry who looks helplessly back. Then Fawkes swoops over Dumbledore and he reaches to grab the Phoenix' tail and in a blaze of fire both the bird and Dumbledore are gone. As Fudge and Umbridge sit up, stunned, Shacklebolt smiles a private smile.

"You may not like him, Minister... but you can't deny Dumbledore's got style," Melia laughs under her breath. Umbridge turns around and glares at her. She regains her posture and glares back at her. It was almost as Umbridge suddenly remembered who she was glaring at and her face fell fast before she looked over at the Minister who looked at Melia.

"Withlock, right?"

"Yes, Minister. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, yes. You can take Mister Potter and Miss Chang with you now," she nods at him and grabs both of their arms. When they are safely out of their eyesight, she lets go of their arms. Harry turns around to face her and apologizes for moving to conclusions. She tells him it's alright and says good night before walking to her common room. When she gets inside, the only people sitting in the room are her friends. She moves towards one of the armchairs and flops down rubbing her temples.

"So-- the DA..."

Melia looks up at Blaise, "What about it?"

"Well, it was finally found. Weirdly, your name wasn't found on it."

"Have you ever heard of magic, Blaise?" she says sarcastically.

"Then if it worked on your name then what about the others?"

"The others don't have to fear for their life if their names are written on that parchment," Melia gets up from the chair. "I don't want to talk about this anymore, so if I hear any of you mention it, I will hex you-- Now, good night." They look at her walk all the way up to her dorm and when she's out of eyesight they turn their eyes at Draco.

"What's her new mission? It has something to do with Umbridge doesn't it?"

"I actually have no idea. She doesn't want to tell me--" they look at him in disappointment before going back to the conversation they had before Melia walked in. Draco says good night to them all and walks to his dorm. He smiles as he sees her lying under the sheets with a potions book over her chest. **Did she fall asleep studying?** He moved over to her, removed the book and kissed her forehead. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then he came back and laid beside her under the sheets. He moved her closer to him, trying not to wake her. She nuzzles into his side and they both fall asleep once more.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

After the DA was found, the members of it had to go through many detentions with that terrible quill. Melia hated that she couldn't do anything about it and had to see her friends suffer when she also should have. She became very stressed with everything happening. She felt guilty for what's happening with the DA members, she still had to be part of that stupid squad and on top off that she had the OWL's to prepare for. It was only a few days away and she's been studying non-stop for days. Draco is starting to get worried about her, but he knows better than to argue with her.

"Hey, 'Mione. What's the fourth ingredient of Cure of boils?"

"Ehm, oh I know it-- It's ginger root!"

"Of course, thank you!"

Draco laughs under his breath. "What are you laughing about, Malfoy?" Melia looks at Hermione and then at Draco.

"Well, I just think it's pretty funny how much you both like working. I admire you both." Hermione blushes and Melia smirks at her and kisses his cheek. Then she starts working again until the day turns into night. Melia fell asleep half an hour ago, but Hermione kept on studying. Draco got up from his chair as quietly as he could and took off his robe. Then he wrapped it around her and kissed her head. Hermione smiled at the two of them. She's the one who is most open about them dating. She strongly believes that if it hadn't been for Draco, Melia wouldn't be as happy as she is today. Taking everything with the Dark Lord out of count. As long as Melia is happy, Hermione doesn't care who she's with.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

The clock was ticking annoyingly in front where Umbridge was standing looking at all 'her' students with a smug look on her face. Melia was discussed by it but tried to not focus on her and instead focus on the exam. She was almost done with the exam when she heard something from outside the Great Hall. She knew what it was and smirked to herself and sat down her quill, waiting for the fun to happen. Umbridge walked towards the door as more sounds could be heard from outside. When she came to the doors, she opened them and went outside. A few stray fireworks came inside and then the Weasley twins came flying in. Everyone clapped at the fireworks that were up in the air. Umbridge came running in looking rather annoyed.

The twins put up some more fireworks before Fred came down towards Melia. She made a large firework appear from her dimensional pockets and gave it to him with a wink. Melia had asked to help the boys with their prank, but in secret so that Umbridge couldn't find out what was happening. He flew up and lit it. It blew up and turned into a large Chinese dragon that followed Umbridge all the way to her rules where it destroyed all of the rules and took Umbridge with it. Her clothes and hair were completely messed up. Then the twins came back out and got the whole fifth year with them.

Melia stood between Harry and clapped along with the others. Then she felt like someone was trying to get inside her mind, but she blocked it out as much as she could. But Harry had a harder time blocking it out. She kneeled down, trying to get in contact with him, but Voldemort had gotten too far into his mind. When he came too again, Hermione and some other DA members were standing over him. 'Sirius' was the only thing he said before they all went up to Umbridge' office. Melia flicked her fingers to change everyone's clothes into something better than their robes.

"When are you going to get it through your head, Harry?" Hermione stands beside Melia, "We're in this together!"

"That--you--are," Umbridge says as she steps in together with her squad. She looks over at Melia, "Withlock?" The squad takes hold of different members of the army. Draco holds Melia and entangles his fingers with hers behind her back, she relaxes instantly by this small gesture and is unable to focus on the conversation in front of her.

"I thought you were scared of the Dark Lord finding out about this," he hisses into her ear quietly.

"I am, but some things are more important than my mission. I would rather die than not help my friends."

"Melia!" he says and grabs her a little harder.

"Tell her, Harry!"

"Tell me...what?" Harry stares at Hermione, bewildered. "Well if you won't tell her where it is, I will! It's not worth another student dying!"

"Where what is?"

"Dumbledore's secret weapon," Umbridge takes Harry and Hermione with her out in the woods while the others stay behind. The squad looks over at Melia.

"I thought you were done with this."

"Oh, come on Pans. I would do anything for my friends."

"What about us? Aren't we your friends?" Daphne stands beside her girlfriend, "And then you just go and betray us."

"God-- Can't you all stop with this stupid shit? This squad changed you all into power sick morons," she looks at all of them in the eyes before continuing. "Let us all go and you can punish me and yell at me later," they look at each other before letting them go. Melia nods her head at them gratefully. Right before they're able to get out, Draco grabs her arm and kisses her. She smiles at him and follows the others.

"How did you get away?"

They all look at Melia, "I guess being a Slytherin in a group of Gryffindors has its perks." Hermione nudges her arm and giggles.

"So how are we going to get to London?"

Luna smiles beatifically, "We fly, of course." They look at her with curiosity before she leads them to some thestrals. Melia smiles sorrowfully when she sees them. She pets one of them before helping Hermione get on it, seeing she can't see them. Then she got on behind her. When they fled to the Ministry, Melia suddenly remembered something from the films.

"Hey, 'Mione?"

"Yes?"

"Something is going to be happening now at the Ministry and when that happens-- Well, I just want to say sorry in advance. For everything that's going to happen." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	49. more time

All of them were walking in a fast paste towards where Harry saw Sirius. When they came there, Sirius was nowhere to be found. Harry got the prophecy and tried to listen to it. Melia’s heartbeat was starting to increase. She knew that pretty soon, she had to betray her friends once more. Then, dark figures began coming towards them. One of them being Lucius Malfoy.

“Very good, Potter…” Harry's eyes widen in confusion. “...now give me the Prophecy.”

“Sirius--”

“It's time you learned the difference between reality and dreams, Potter--you saw what the Dark Lord wanted you to see. Now give. That. To me,” he reaches out his hand.

“If you want to get to us you're going to have to smash this first. Something tells me your boss wouldn't be too pleased about that.”

Bellatrix comes from behind Lucius, “Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter.”

“Bellatrix, no,” he looks back at the group and that’s when he notices Melia. “Camellia, who thought you would betray the Dark Lord?” The group looks at her in confusion. The trio knew, but this was news to Neville, Luna and Ginny.

“Who said I betrayed him?” she then points her wand at the group and moves to stand beside Lucius, “I wanted to make sure they made it here safely.” He smirks at her, pleased with her answer. Then he looks back at Harry.

“As those who died trying to acquire it for the Dark Lord learned-- prophecies can only be retrieved by those about whom they are made. Haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as an infant? The reason for the connection between you? The secret of your scar? You hold the answer in your hands. Come, let me show it to you…”

“I've been waiting fourteen years. I guess I can wait a little longer. NOW!” the group all yells ‘Stupefy’ and runs for the door. Melia and the other Death Eaters run after them, not shooting any spells. They want the prophecy safe. The group jumps inside the door and the door closes behind them. Before they follow them, Lucius puts a hand on her shoulder looking into her eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, Luci. I’m alright.” He nods at her before all of them disappear in a cloud of smoke. They get to where the group went and Melia made sure to get Hermione. She couldn’t bear watching any of the others take a hold on her. She took her and held her close, but not as hard as the others are being held. Melia kept saying over and over again that she’s sorry. She feels so bad about doing this and now more people know what she is. She’s scared of what Neville will think of her.

Then some clouds of light come from above them and set the group free. Tonks comes towards Hermione and Melia and takes them behind one of the rocks on the ground. Melia smiles at Tonks who nods back at her before continuing the fight. She stands behind the rock making sure everything is going alright. She doesn't want to fight against the order and she can’t fight against the Dark Lord. So the only thing she can do is watch from behind. But then she saw a spell come straight for Neville and she couldn’t just watch from behind anymore. She ran up to him and blocked the spell, she turned around as a hand was placed on her shoulder and met his eyes. He smiled at her.

Melia turned around and saw Bellatrix aiming her wand at Sirius and shouting one of the unforgivable curses. Her smile falters and she falls on her knees locking eyes with Sirius for the last time. He smiles at her warmly before he fades away. She can hear Harry’s screams in the back of her head.

_‘I already knew this would happen and I have read it so many times, seen it in the movies, but there's something else watching it in person. Who thought I would ever see it? I pictured this day in my head since the first time I met him. I always tried to imagine what I would feel or how I would react, but it hurts much more than I thought. Maybe because when I thought about it before I didn't know he was my uncle or that I would be fighting on the same side as the person who killed him._

_He's gone now. And the memories I made with him will always stick with me. His voice calling me 'Sugar', him clapping for me after I played the piano and him wrapping me in a blanket because I stayed up all night and fell asleep in the living room. I tried to make as many memories as possible, and now I can't make more. If only we- if only he had more time…’_

Neville gets her up from the floor. She looks around and sees Lucius on the floor. She runs over to him to check if he’s alright before running too where Harry ran off to. When she gets there, Harry is lying on the floor looking in pain. She calls out for him, but it's like he doesn't acknowledge her presence. The others come in and see the picture unfolding in front of them. Hermione grabs her hand and squeezes it. Melia lets go of it and places herself behind Dumbledore.

“You're not strong. You're weak. You'll never know friendship or love, or real happiness-- and I feel sorry for you!” A wall of dust surrounds Harry and Voldemort is standing on top of Harry.

“You are a fool, Harry Potter…” He reaches out to gently touch Harry's face. “And you will lose everything,” he looks up as he hears someone coming from the floo system. He turns and looks at Melia. “I expect to see you at the Manor later--”

He turns around and apparates as the Minister comes, “He’s back.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia comes into the common room, dry tears on her face. She looks like hell, dry blood sticking to her face and her clothes are dirty from all the dust. Draco gets up from his chair, but doesn't walk to her yet, "Melia! Are you alright?"

She swallows hard before speaking, "Padfoot-- Sirius, he's dead. Bellatrix, she-- she killed him."

"Oh, Melia," he walks towards her, but she raises her hand to make him stop. "Can I talk to you?" she glances at the others, "Alone?" He nods and follows her up to his room. She sits down on his bed and pats the seat beside her. He sits down and takes her hand, running circles around her palm, trying to calm her down.

"When we got there, I already knew it was a trap. Some death eaters came and I had to go to their side," she swallows. "Your father and aunt were two of them. We fought the order, or they did, I just pretended. Then Before Sirius-- died, he fought Lucius and won. He became unconscious and by the time he came through again, he had already been arrested--. I'm sorry Draco, but Lucius has been sent to Azkaban," he looks at her wondering if he heard right.

"What? He-- he can't have," she doesn't know what to say and just hugs him and he hugs her back. Draco mumbles into her shoulder about it not being possible and that he can't. But that's the problem, he can... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	50. home

sixth year

" _Avada Kedavra_ "

\- Severus Snape

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After what happened last school year, Melia was sent home earlier than the others. Sirius’ death was taking a toll on her, but a small one. She tried to shove it to the back of her head. She was almost more worried about Lucius and Draco. Melia wanted to believe that she was more worried about them so she didn’t have to think about _his_ death. The Weasleys were a little worried about her but didn’t do anything.

“Remus?” Melia says as she walks towards him on the sofa and sits down beside him. She turns so she’s facing him completely. He puts down his book to look at her. “My parents' house is still intact, right? So it's possible to go there and it’s just like it was before?”

“Yes, it’s intact. But I don’t recommend going there. There is always Death Eaters nearby.”

“Let’s go then!” she says and gets up from the sofa.

“Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”

“I did, but I’m a Death Eater too. So if there is anyone there, they wouldn’t dare do anything!” Remus rubs his temples before walking with her outside. But not before telling Molly where they're going. He grabbed her arm lightly and apparated outside her childhood home. The house brought back many memories when she saw it. And it was just as she remembered it.

It was a big house with three floors. The house was the same colour as the Malfoy Manor, but it was smaller than the Manor. Around the house was a high hedge surrounding the house. They went inside and saw the big entrance when they came in. The house was completely clean and it looked like someone had been living there. Then Kreacher, the Black family’s house-elf suddenly appeared.

“Kreacher?”

“Yes, Mistress. I have been taking care of your house so it’s ready when you came back. Can I take your coats?” Melia smiles at the elf and gives him her coat before walking towards her father’s office. She sits down at his desk and runs her finger over it. No dust comes on her finger. _He really has been taking care of the house._ She opens one of the drawers and takes out a worn notebook and turns to one off the pages. The page had her father's handwriting. She smiled at it. His handwriting was beautiful and Melia had always envied her father's handwriting. Then she took out a piece of parchment and started writing.

_‘Dear mom and dad,_

_I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to write to you sooner, but I’ve had a hard time finding out how to do it. And now I have finally found it. It’s been three years since I left and so much has happened._

Melia started writing about everything that has happened in the three last years.

_I miss you both and I wish I could see you again, but the spell wore off and I don’t know how to get back to your universe. I hope you're doing alright._

_Take care and thank you for everything you have done for me_!

_From your ‘daughter’ Camilla Kristiansen._

She put the letter in an envelope and looked inside the notebook again. She muttered the spell that was inside and the letter disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke. Ever since Melia got her memories back, she has been trying to figure out how to send a letter to her ‘parents’ in Norway. She felt so bad for just suddenly disappearing and wanted to say she’s sorry and thank you.

Remus came into the room at the moment the letter disappeared. He looked at her with furrowed brows and she just smirked at him before going to the living room. She wanted to take a look around the house before leaving again. She went to the small table beside the fireplace where there were many frames. Melia looked at them and smiled. Then she notices a picture she hadn’t seen before. A picture of her mother and Sirius. _You both look so happy. I hope you're just as happy now that you’re together again--_

A loud sob comes from the living room and Remus runs inside. Melia was sitting on the floor, holding the picture frame close to her chest. He ran over to her and embraced her. The death of Sirius hadn’t sunken in until that moment. It was almost like she didn’t want to believe it herself, but now. It was all so real. Sirius is _really_ dead and he’s not coming back…

⊰ ❃ ⊱

The whole Weasley house and a few of the Order members were sitting in the kitchen. They were talking about some mission they had to go out on and tried to get Melia to join them, but she refused. Then a black owl came through the window. She and the others recognized it right away. She takes the letter and reads it before getting up from her chair and going upstairs. She gets her small trunk that Hermione helped her use the expand charm on and went down the stairs walking towards the door, but someone grabs her arm stopping her from walking out, "You don't have to go."

"That's the problem, Remus. I do." She looks at the others in the room, "All of you think that I have a choice, but I don't. Do you really think I want to stay on their side? That I want to take orders from him and execute them? I don't, but if I don't do as he says, someone else has to pay for it. And I don't want that on my conscience.

“If I don’t go, Draco may get hurt, Narcissa too and Lucius may never get out of Azkaban.”

Mad-Eye looks at her, “He’ll never get out of Azkaban!”

“You sure about that? I'm sorry, but I'm the girl who has no choice. In this story, Harry..." she scoffs, "...Harry is the hero while I’m the villain. That's just how it is."

"Melia--"

"I'll see you two at school," she looks down for a moment before looking back at Remus. "I hope." She can hear them shouting her name after her, but she doesn't turn to look at them. She arrives at the manor, gives the elves her luggage and asks them to bring it to Draco's room before flicking her fingers and changing into one of her finest black dresses. Then she goes into the drawing-room. Voldemort is sitting in the front with Bellatrix and Narcissa.

“Camellia, welcome back. But if I remember right, I told you to go to the manor right after the battle, but you did not.”

“I’m sorry, My Lord. The death of my uncle took a bigger toll on me than I thought.”

“I do not care about-- If it hadn’t been for your parents' promise to me, I would’ve killed you long ago,” he says as he walks around her like she is some kind of prey. “You are far too crucial for my plan. That’s the only reason I’m keeping you alive. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Now, as you know. Draco will be getting his mark in a few days and I want you two to do a mission for me this year.”

“What do you need us to do?”

“To kill Albus Dumbledore,” Melia’s head shoots up wondering if she heard right. The Dark Lord told her more about the mission and how they’re going to do it. Then she was dismissed and she went up to Draco’s room.

“I wondered when you would get here. The elves came with your luggage and I thought you must have had a meeting with the Dark Lord. What did he say?”

“Nothing I would want to go into now,” she takes out her wand and mutters a silencing charm under her breath. “I’ve missed you,” she says and moves towards him. He smirks at her and meets her midways. Their lips smack together. They move in sync. His teeth begin to nibble her lips, seeking permission for entrance, which she grants him. Their tongues collide, fighting for dominance, for control. Draco pulls her onto his lap and begins to kiss her jawline, slowly going down towards her neck. He finds her sweet spot and begins sucking.

She lets out a moan. She starts unbuttoning his shirt while he takes the zipper of her dress down slowly, his fingers running down her bare spine. She gasps at his cold fingers touching her skin. He drags off her dress and spins her around so he’s on top. She giggles and kisses him again. Draco drags his hand down her back and down her leg and up her back again all the way to her neck. Then he notices something.

“How did you get this scar?”

“What scar?”

“This one on your neck-- it looks like a lightning.”

“Oh, I got it when I was younger. I fell,” he nods his head and starts kissing her again. _A lightning scar? I’ve never noticed it before--_


	51. Chapter 51

“Is it just me? Or do Draco and mummy look like two people who don’t want to be followed?” Hermione and Harry follow Ron’s eyes before they all decide to follow the two of them. The two boys walk ahead of Hermione and they duck inside a shop front. At the end of the alley, a single shop glimmers dully: Borgin & Burkes. Narcissa and Draco enter the shop.

“What’re they playing at?”

“Dunno. Let’s get closer.”

“Hey. Where’s Hermione?”

“I’m here.” The three of them get up on the roof, Hermione last. Inside they can see Draco walking around a cabinet, expecting it with caution. Then they see Melia coming from one of the doorways. She walks towards Draco and kisses him on the cheek, welcoming. She then looks towards where the trio is laying on the roof. She points at the window and a Death Eater goes towards the window and closes the curtains.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know, but I think Melia has just gotten a new mission--” Hermione comes up on the roof at that moment, in the middle of the boys’ conversation. “And I think Draco is a part of it this time.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia and Draco were walking through Kings Cross. Draco was wearing his black suit while Melia was wearing a black knee-high dress with long sleeves and a black cloak. People made space for them when they walked. They looked like a power couple walking like they were doing. When they arrived at the platform, everyone turned their heads at them and looked at them, whispering. The trio looked at them, but Melia didn’t acknowledge them. She dismissed the not too well known Death Eater who had brought their luggage and walked inside the train. Molly saw the two of them and looked at Melia with worried eyes.

They sat down with their friends and Melia sat by the window, looking outside. This may be the last year she gets to see the terrain and she wanted to remember it all. Then the carriage went completely black. Draco tensed, looking worried around. Melia placed a hand on his upper thigh and he calmed.

“Relax, boys. The lights went out is all.”

“Hogwarts. What a pathetic excuse for a school. I think I’d pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I thought I had to continue for another two years.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Blaise says with worry, then he looks at Melia. “You’re not worried about what he said?”

She turns her head at Blaise, “No, I’ve heard it before and he won’t do it.” Then she turns her head back at the scenery. Their friends look at both of them with worry. When the train stops Draco tells the others to go in front. Melia says she’ll wait outside and stays by the door of the train. She hears something happening inside the train and feels a little bad for Harry. Then Draco comes out and she slips her hand in his.

“I know you hate him, but you didn’t have to destroy his nose,” he looks down at the ground. After some trouble at the gate, they got to walk to the castle. Melia has changed her cloak to her Slytherin robes but still has the dress under the robe. The feast had already started when they arrived, but neither Draco nor Melia was hungry anyway. Dumbledore started his speech and he introduced the new teacher, Horace Slughorn. And he told everyone that Severus Snape would be the new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Then Draco and Melia had to show the first years around.

Melia went behind Rosie, embracing her in a back hug, “Would you like to help us?”

“I can do that?”

“Yes, I’ll allow it just for you. So what do you say?”

“Yes!” she almost jumps out of her seat and follows Melia and Draco to the front where the first years are sitting. They give them a few rules before walking towards the dungeons. On the way, the first years ask them many questions, which Melia answers most of. Draco is walking beside the two girls, but he isn’t engaging as much. Rosie notices and goes to grab his hand. He looks down at her and smiles a warm smile. Melia gets happy by this. Ever since he got the Mark, he has been a little distant and acting differently. She believes it’s because of this being his first mission and that he feels this burden with having to kill Dumbledore.

“I’m going to bed, good night,” Draco says after they had dismissed the first years. He kisses her on the lips and goes to his room. Melia brings Rosie to the sofa and sits with her. She sets her on her lap and starts playing with her hair, braiding it. After some time Pansy decides to speak up.

“Are you alright, Melia?”

“Yes, shouldn’t I be?”

“It’s just the conversation on the train. After the lights went out.”

“Draco has just had a hard summer, but he’ll be alright. It’s hard having a parent in Azkaban-- there, now the braid is done. You like it?” she says to Rosie who hugs her. “I take that as a yes. Now off to bed.” Rosie obliges and Melia walks out of the common room to start her prefect duties. She knows Draco needs the sleep so she decided to do it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	52. non-stop

Today, Slytherin had a potion class with Gryffindor. It was their first class with the potion teacher. They were starting on the potion and Melia knew how to make it, but she went on slowly. She knew that it was meant for Harry to get the liquid luck. After Harry got the prize, she decided to stay back for a few minutes and finish the potion. When the potion was done, Slughorn came up to her.

“Finished?” she nods her head and he checks if it’s made right. “Wow, this is almost better than Harry’s. I’m sorry that I only had one bottle.”

“There’s no need Professor. We’re here to learn, not to win prizes,” she smiles at him and walks out of the room where Draco is waiting for her. He places his hand in hers and they begin the walk towards the room of requirements. They had a free period and decided to look at the cabinet.

“You know. When I walked past the Amortentia potion, all I could smell was you. Peppermint and your cologne.”

“I smelled you too. Cherry blossom, books and peppermint.”

“Peppermint? I smell like peppermint?”

“I guess some of my scents have rubbed onto you,” she lets out a breathy laugh and smiles at him. Then both of their faces become serious as they arrive outside of the room. The door appears and they walk inside. After minutes of looking, they find it. It looks just like the one in Borgin and Burkes. After inspecting it, they come to the same conclusion; This is not going to be easy.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia and Draco had been working on the cabinet non-stop, but it almost felt like they didn’t get any closer to mending it. No matter what they do, it ends up not working. But they are not giving up. They just have to think outside the box. Draco came with a suggestion that they could try it different ways instead of having to actually look him in the eyes when they have to kill him. Melia didn’t believe it would work but said yes nonetheless. She was on her way to Hogsmeade with the trio while Draco was back at the castle mending the cabinet.

They found a table and ordered three Butterbeers and one pumpkin juice. “How come you're sitting with us instead of with your Slytherin friends over there?” Melia looks behind and sees Pansy and Daphne.

“I wouldn’t want to ruin their date,” they look shocked. “And I needed some time away from the dungeons and other dark-minded people,” she says, a frown forming on her face.

“It’s a new mission, isn’t it?” Hermione whispers so it’s only audible to Melia. “That’s what’s bugging you?” Melia doesn't answer and sees Katie Bell going inside the bathroom. “Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” She follows her into the bathroom and locks the door wandless. She turns towards the Gryffindor student.

“Katie?”

“Yes?” she turns around looking at her, she looks almost a little terrified looking at Melia’s sudden change in her facial expression. “What can I do for you?”

“More than you think. Imperio,” she says and points her hand towards Katie. She gives her some instructions and makes the bag appear from her dimensional pockets. Then she let Katie walk out before she went herself. When she came out of the room a strong hand stopped her. She looked into the eyes of worried grey eyes.

“What are you doing here? I thought I was going to do this alone.”

“I know, I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

“That was a nice thought, Love. But you know I can handle myself,” he nods his head before they walk out of the Three Broomsticks hand in hand. Before they are able to get out of Hogwarts, they see Katie Bell flying into the air. The trio had witnessed it and Melia led him into the book shop before the trio could see them. They waited until they had walked away. When they did, Melia and Draco started the long walk towards the castle. She could feel his anger radiating from him.

When they came back to his room, he went over to his desk and threw away everything that was on the desk. She didn’t even flinch at his rage and used a spell to clean it up when he was done. He sat himself down at the end of the bed with his head between his hands. She placed herself between his legs and cupped his cheeks and made him look at her. She kissed his head lovingly before moving down, kissing his eye, nose and finally his mouth. He kissed her back and moved his hands to her lower back, moving her closer. She leaned even closer and they fell back on their bed, Melia on top. “You really know how to cheer me up, Darling,” she giggles and continues kissing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	53. too tired?

Melia was getting ready for the first Slughorn party. She took out one of her wine red coloured dresses that was short and had a little puffy skirt, but not too much. And the top had spaghetti straps and a v-neckline. She put on some lip gloss and some mascara before walking to the party. When she got there, almost everyone was already seated. Melia had a habit of arriving late to this kind of things. She smiled apologetically before sitting down opposite of Hermione and Harry. That was the only available place left. When Slughorn asked Hermione about her parents, Melia couldn’t hold back her laugh when she told them the story about that boy who bit her father's finger. Hermione shot her a deadly glare and Melia raised her arms in defence.

“And you miss Withlock? What did your parents do?”

“Oh, um… my parents didn’t work. They were unemployed--”

“You mean they were Death Eaters!” a boy snickered at her, but she ignored him.

“I knew your parents very well. Exceptional students. Your mother was a Slytherin like you and your father, he was a Gryffindor. I remember the fights they would have in my classroom.”

“Fights?”

“Yes, they always fought with each other. I found it quite weird that they ended up together in the end. As far as I’ve heard, they had an arranged marriage,” she furrowed her brows in confusion. “You didn’t know?”

“No, I remember them as very loving people. They would always hug and kiss. I would have never thought it was an arranged marriage if they hadn’t told it to me themselves!” she gets up from her chair and excused herself. She walked slowly back to the common room, trapped in her thoughts. _Arranged marriage? But they always seemed so in love when I was young. Maybe they just grew on each other?_ She lets out a loud breath before saying the password and walking in. She doesn't acknowledge the shouts of her name when she walks up to her dorm. Draco follows her up and stands in front of her on the bed. She sat down, looking into nothingness.

“Did you know my parents had an arranged marriage?”

“I--” she looks up at him with tears threatening to fall. “You did?” her voice is almost inaudible and soft. He just hugs her and apologizes. He thought she knew so he didn’t bring it up. There wasn't any place he could bring it up anyways. “But they did love each other. They didn’t hate each other in school, they just pretended so that no one found out about their secret relationship. My mother told me about it one day.”

“So they were in love all along?” he nods his head at her and she smiles. He wipes away her tears with his thumb and kisses her nose. She lets out a breathy laugh. He kisses her on the mouth and tries to take off her dress, but she stops him.

****(A/N) There is some sexual content ahead. If you don’t want to read that, you can skip it. There will be another a/n after it’s done. There is no important information. So if you skip, you don’t miss anything important.** **

“I would love too, but I’m too tired tonight,” he fake pouts and leaves the room towards his own. She smiles to herself and changes into some nightwear before walking over to his room. She lays under the covers and nuzzles up beside him. He places an arm around her waist and moves her closer. Her back against his front. She can feel his member on her back and she moves her hand towards it and starts to run her palm outside his boxers. “I thought you said you were tired,” he says the last part in a moan.

She smirks to herself, feeling pleased with the power she has over him. He moves his hand up from her waist, under her shirt towards her breast and begins massaging it. She lets out a small gasp at the sudden touch before letting out a small moan. Now it’s Draco’s turn to smirk and he starts massaging her with more force. She accepts the challenge and starts rubbing him harder. He wasn’t expecting it and let out a loud moan. She smirked once more before turning around, kissing him.

“I think I won that one.”

“You think?” she laughs at him and starts to kiss him again. He moves his hands around her waist, pushing her closer to him. She cups his cheeks, then she breaks away from the kiss. She kisses him on the jawline, moving slowly to the neck and starts sucking on the tender skin. Draco tries to stop the moans coming from his mouth, but Melia had him wrapped around her fingers.

He got a little irritated by that fact and grabbed her harder around her waist before turning her around in a fast movement. She hadn’t expected it at all and let out a rather loud gasp. He smirked at her before starting to do the same as she did seconds ago. He kissed her jawline, moving slowly down to her neck and started sucking on her tender skin. Her giggles turned into small moans. Draco wasn’t pleased with the small moans and decided to move slowly over to the other side, leaving wet sloppy kisses on the way. He sucked on the skin again and started massaging her breast again with his free hand. She let out a loud moan and he smirked at her, pleased with his win. “I guess it was my turn to win,” she hits his chest lightly before pressing him down against her again and their lips smack together.

He leans down on her even more to deepen the kiss. He nudges on her lower lip to ask for access, which she grants him. Their tongues dance together in yet another fight, which none of them wins. They break apart by lack of air and they just look into each other's eyes, smiling at each other. He lays down beside her again and moves his hand around her waist. Her back is once again against his front. She lets out a breathy laugh, letting the events that just happened play around in her mind.

****(A/N) Sexual content done! Happy reading ;)** **

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Hey, Ron! Good luck today! You’re going to do amazing!” Melia says as she sits down at the Gryffindor table.

“But you're a Slytherin.”

“Yes and? Can’t I say good luck to my dear friend? And Draco isn’t playing anyway, so I’d rather cheer for you.”

Harry looks at her confused, “Malfoy isn’t playing?”

“No, he has an injury that makes him unable to play. Harper will be his substitute until he gets better,” Harry looks rather irritated by the answer, but she just shakes it off. At the match, she sits down with Hermione cheering with her. Hermione had given one of her scarfs to Melia so she didn’t look left out. Then the match started.

Instantly, Slytherin snatches the Quaffle and weaves and passes with wicked skill, culminating in a vicious, slicing shot on goal. Ron streaks out of nowhere and sends the Quaffle screaming in the opposite direction. Ginny pauses on her broom, stunned.

“What’s gotten into him today?” Harry circles up around her, smirking to himself. Then Dean shouts at her, “Ginny! Let’s go!”

Instantly, she rolls backward, jets off and races down her fellow Chasers. Flying in spread formation, Dean-- on the far wing-- starts the Quaffle “up the line” until it lands in Ginny’s hand. Pitching herself into a wide slide to avoid a pair of whistling bludgers, she leans recklessly off her broom and whips the Quaffle through the goal untouched.

As the crowd screams, Harry eyes the Gryffindor section, where Hermione sits with her arms crossed, a look of supreme annoyance on her face. Harry grins and jets off. Melia already knows Harry didn’t put the luck potion and enjoys watching Hermione’s disappointed face. She says goodbye to her before beginning the walk towards the room of requirements. She told Draco she would be going to him right after the match was done.

“Who won the match?”

“Gryffindor--” he looks at her almost angry. She moves up beside him and they try out different ways of mending it. They have gotten a little further than the start of the semester, but not far enough. After the day had turned into night, Melia was almost sleeping on the sofa right beside the cabinet. She opens her eyes and looks at Draco;

“Hey, Love?”

“Hmm?”

“You know that party Slughorn is having?” he turns to look at her completely. “I know we need to work on this cabinet, but how about we take one night off?”

“I don’t know. I would love to go with you, it’s just--”

“Our mission. I know. Just think about it then,” he nods his head before starting to work again. Melia is unable to keep her eyes open anymore and falls asleep almost instantly after her eyes closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	54. narcissist

Melia was walking with Harry and Hermione in the library. Ron wasn’t with them because of him snogging Lavender. Hermione had told her all about it and Melia tried to comfort her, but she was too heartbroken to even listen to Melia’s tips.

“He’s at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes. I really couldn’t care less. Was I under the impression that he and I would be attending Slughorn’s Christmas party together? Yes. Of course, now, given the circumstances, I’ve had to make other arrangements.”

“Have you?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I just thought, you know, since neither one of us can take who we’d really like... maybe we’d go together. As friends.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

“So who are you taking?”

“Um... it’s a surprise,” Melia snorts which earns her a deathly glare from ‘Mione. “Besides, it’s you we need to worry about. And you can’t pick just anyone. See that girl over there. That’s Romilda Vane. Rumour has it she’s trying to slip you a love potion.”

“Really?” He turns his head around, looking at Vane. “Hey! She’s only interested in you because she thinks you’re the Chosen One. You know that, right?”

“But I am the Chosen One,” Hermione hits on the head.

“Ha, you deserved that one you narcissist,” Melia says.

“Narcissist? That was a bit harsh!” she just shrugs at him. “What about you? Do you have a date?”

“Emh, no. I thought I would just go by myself.”

“You want to go with me?”

“Do you really want your head on a stick?” Harry laughs nervously. She joins them to the Great Hall but sits down by the Slytherin table. She notices that Draco isn’t sitting by the table and decides to bring some food up to him. Melia knows they need to work on the cabinet, but they don’t need to work on it 24/7. They need a break sometimes, and they do need to eat. She grabbed some green apples and a bagel before walking up to the room of requirements.

Melia pushes the door open and starts walking towards the cabinet. She finds him looking at the cabinet in deep thought. She bites her lower lip, taking in his futures. There’s a faint light shining on the right side of his face. His jawline looks perfect in this setting. “Take a picture. It’ll last longer,” she blushed as he turned around looking at her. His face is blank, but his eyes can’t hide his love. She stands completely frozen. She almost forgot how handsome he is. He takes one off the apples and takes a big bite. She almost chokes on air as she suddenly remembers ‘Drapple’. Draco looks over at her with worried eyes and tries to get up from the sofa he had sat down on. She waves him off and walks over to the cabinet. She looked at the work Draco had done that day.

“I feel like we aren’t getting any closer to getting it done,” she says with a huff. Draco comes up behind her, putting his chin on her shoulder.

“Do we succeed? Like, do you remember anything from the films?”

“You know I don’t, Dray,” he starts pressing sloppy kisses on her neck. She puts her hands over his shoulder and leans her head back against him, enjoying this small moment with him. Draco has been pretty tense lately because of the mission. Melia is used to missions seeing she has had them since fourth year. She tries calming him down and making him not work 24/7, but he is afraid of failing the Dark Lord, so moments like this didn’t happen as often anymore. Yes, they do sleep in the same bed, but they only sleep then because they are so exhausted by all the work they do. They wake up early, work on the cabinet, go to classes and work on the cabinet again until it’s too late. The both of them have been taking one night each patrolling the halls. They are still prefects and don’t want to lose their titles.

They worked some more on the cabinet before Melia had to go do her duties. She kissed him goodbye and flicked her fingers, changing into a black knee-high dress and her Slytherin robes over it. She tried to button it up, but Draco came and stopped her. “It looks better without you buttoning it up,” she smiles at him and gives him yet another kiss before walking out. She lit up her wand and started going on her patrol.

Back at the Gryffindor tower, Harry was sitting in his bed looking at the Marauders map. He saw both Melia and Draco disappear but saw only Melia come back again. He found it quite weird.

“You still looking at the map Harry?”

“Yes. Now Melia reappeared.”

“Are you sure you’re not seeing wrong? How can they appear and reappear in thin air?”

“I don’t know, Ron. I don’t know.”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Drink?”

“Neville?” she smiles at him and takes a drink. After the battle at the Ministry, Melia was so afraid of what Neville would think of her. He didn’t write her any letters that summer and she was so scared of meeting him again after the summer break. When they came back, Neville had a talk with her and said he was sorry for not sending any letters. Apparently, he hadn’t sent anyone any letters since he had been so busy and because he needed to process the other events that happened at the Ministry. Neville let Melia explain everything to him before he formed an opinion. After she was done, he hugged her. Just like Hermione did when she told her everything. She got so happy that a few tears spilt. He wiped them away and told her that their friendship wouldn’t get destroyed by something that’s completely out of her control.

Melia got taken by her arm suddenly and looked to her right seeing Hermione. She insisted on Melia taking a picture with her and Cormac. She didn’t want to take a picture with him alone. She rolled her eyes at her friend, “You could have taken anyone else to make Ron jealous and you had to bring the guy that is pure disgusting.”

“Oh, shut up. You don’t even have a date.”

“I chose so myself.” Hermione huffs and Melia rolls her eyes once more. They take a picture with Slughorn before Hermoine goes to hide behind the curtains. Melia laughs at her and goes to get another drink. Then Filch comes in holding someone by the collar. She moves closer to see who it is and crosses her arms when she sees Draco. His face is blank even when he locks eyes with her. He can see the anger radiating from her.

“I’ll escort him out.”

“Certainly... Professor,” the two of them walked out of the room while two more followed them. Melia rounded the corner slowly, listening for the right moment to walk in.

“Maybe I did hex that Bell girl! Maybe I didn’t! What’s it to you?”

“I swore to protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow--”

Melia comes into the scene with her arms crossed, “We don’t need protection, Severus. I have handled myself since third year.”

“You have, but not him,” he points his finger at Draco.

“I don’t need protection. I-- we were chosen for this. Out of all others. Us! And we won’t fail him.”

“You’re afraid, Draco. You attempt to conceal it, but it’s obvious. Let me assist you both--”

“No! I was chosen. This is my moment!” Melia rolls her eyes at his choice of words. Draco leaves and Severus too, after giving her a deathly stare. She stands there in the dark corridor, taking in a deep breath to control her flowing anger.

“You can come out now, Harry.”

He hesitates before walking towards her, “How did you know I was there?”

“I saw you following us when we walked out.”

“Draco is a part of your new mission? And Snape?”

“No-- and you won’t come far by snooping around in his or mine’s business. Good night, Harry,” she says and walks away before he’s able to say anything else. She walks to the common room and finds Draco on one of the sofas, fast asleep. She smiles faintly and moves over to him. She gets a blanket and drapes it around both of them as she nuzzles up beside him. He wakes up and runs an arm around her, moving her closer. “Good night, darling. I love you, even though you can be a git sometimes,” she can feel his chest rumbling slightly under her, happy that he was awake enough to hear and to laugh about what she said.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

The mail was coming into the Great Hall. Everyone was happy to see what the owls would be bringing in. Both Melia and Draco dreaded the times when the owls came. They were scared of getting letters from you-know-who. Melia’s owl, Diana came towards her holding a paper. She caught it and read the letter that was attached.

_‘A late Christmas present from the Order.’_

She looked at the paper's headline and read it out loud, “Sirius Black wrongly accused,” her breath hitched in her throat and she got up fast from the bench at the same time as Harry. “Is this... real?” she looked over at Harry and started running towards him. He met her midways, catching her in a hug. They were laughing and tears of joy were running down their faces. People around were wondering what was going on. Then people started whispering as they also started reading the papers.

“Sirius Black was wrongly accused!” a boy from Ravenclaw shouted so that everyone who didn’t have a paper would hear the news. People start to talk louder. Some people believe it and some people say it’s complete rubbish. Mostly the Slytherins.

“Sirius’ name has finally been redeemed. I never thought this would be possible.”

“Me neither,” Harry says, smiling at Melia and hugs her again. Ron and Hermione come up and join the hug too. This moment is the happiest both Harry and Melia have been in a while. A lot is happening in their lives right now and they need some good news in these difficult times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	55. part of the story

This winter break would be the first break that Melia and Draco wouldn't be going to the manor for. In fourth and fifth year, they went to their annual Christmas party, but they were ordered to stay at Hogwarts and work on the cabinet. Because it was the winter break, they didn't have any classes and they were able to work even more on the cabinet. They worked day and night and their friends were beginning to get very worried about the two of them. They knew Melia always got missions at the beginning of the school year, but now they are beginning to wonder if Draco is a part of the mission this year. They had been trying to talk to them and get them to speak, but Melia just acts innocent while Draco gets angry and leaves.

The time was ticking towards eight in the morning. They had worked all night and completely forgot the time. The two of them started walking down towards the common room, dark circles visible under Draco's eyes. Melia was quite used to sleepless nights, so it didn't show that much on her if she hadn't slept for a while. She sat down on the sofa and Draco laid down with his head on her lap. She started stroking his hair and made a book and a blanket appare. First, she put the blanket around him before starting to read the book. Their friends came out of their dormitories, seeing the picture unfolding in front of them.

"Good morning," Melia looked up from her book with a smile and said her good mornings to them. They looked over at Draco and wondered why they even bothered to get up from bed if he was going to sleep when they came down, but they didn't dare ask. Blaise asked if they were coming to breakfast, but she kindly declined them. After about an hour, Draco woke up and walked up to his room. Melia put back her book in her pockets and walked towards the library. She wanted to try and find some more books on how to fix the cabinet. They have looked there before and found nothing, but she wanted to try again.

Before she was able to come anywhere near the library, the trio and Ginny stopped her. _They must have just arrived._ They stood there just looking at her like they couldn't find the right words. Ron clears his throat before speaking.

"You knew, didn't you? That Bellatrix and Greyback would come and burn down our house."

"Yes, I knew, but if I told you. Nothing would change. And it's part of the story. Somethings has to happen for something else to happen."

"What?!" he furrows his brows.

"I'm sorry, but I have other things to do," she starts walking away but stops by the corner. "I'm really sorry about your house, Ron... Ginny. At least we live in a magical world, right?" she gives him a faint smile and walks out of the room. _Everything happens for a reason..._

⊰ ❃ ⊱

Melia ran as fast as she could towards the hospital wing. Tears were threatening to spill, but she kept them in. She had just gotten word that Ron had been poisoned. She opened the door and when she saw Ron lying in the bed, paler than ever, she couldn't keep her tears in any longer. She went over to Hermione who hugged her and wiped away her tears. Melia could hear them talking, but couldn't concentrate on what they were saying. _I did this. Because of me, he almost died. This stupid spell and my stupid memory that makes me forget things like this. If only I remembered, then he wouldn't have ended up almost dying._ Her head snaps to the side as the door suddenly opens and in comes Lavender Brown asking for her Won-Won. Melia furrowed her brows in disgust at the name. Then Ron woke up and started muttering something.

"Hr... My... Nee... Hr! My! Nee!" Hermione grabs his hand, smiling triumphantly to herself and Melia can't help letting her face turn into a small smile. She puts her hand on Hermione's shoulder and stays for a little while longer. When she's walking back to the dungeons, her thoughts come back to her. For a little while, she had forgotten that it was her fault. She walks with heavy steps towards her room. Draco runs after her and the other's are wondering once again what is happening.

She walked inside and didn't even bother closing her door. Melia went to her desk and threw everything that was on the table off and let out a loud scream. She went to one of the walls, put her back against it and slid down letting loud sobs escape her lungs. Draco went over to her and let her cry on his shoulder, "It was my fault he almost died. One of my best friends almost died because of me."

"Shh, it was my idea. I shouldn't have made you do it."

"You didn't make me do anything. I did it out of my own free will, Draco." Their friends come running up after hearing the scream and the loud smash. Blaise gets down on one knee and looks Melia straight into her eyes.

"Now you really need to tell us what is happening. All of us are worried about both of you. We know it has something to do with the Dark Lord, but we don't know what."

Melia gets out of Draco's embrace and gets up from the floor. She wipes away her tears and sets up her hair in a messy bun. She makes everything go back to its place wandlessly, "The mission is far too important for people like _you_ to know," she spats at him. "Now, get out of my room. You don't have anything to worry about. We can handle ourselves." Blaise looks at her bewildered, wondering if he heard right. He had never seen her act like that towards him or the others. He looks over at Draco who looks at him with no emotion in his face.

"You've changed, Melia. I don't even know who you are anymore."

She huffs at his answer, "People change, Blaise. If you can't accept me for who I am then leave."

"That's the problem! I can't accept _you_ when you aren't _you_ ," he shouts at her. "You're lost, Melia. I hope you find yourself soon before you do something you'll regret," he says softer than before. He takes one final look at her before walking out of the room, the others walking after him. When they come downstairs, everyone is looking at them. They must have heard the fight happening.

"What are you looking at?!" he hisses at them. They look away, scared of his sudden outburst. They had never seen or heard him that angry before. He walked right towards one of the armchairs and sat down, rubbing his temples. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	56. bloody hell

The Great Hall was buzzing with sound. The morning classes were done and young and older students were either eating or running the halls. Melia was sitting waiting for Draco to come. He promised that he would come and eat today, but so far he hadn’t shown up yet. Melia began to become impatient and began walking towards the door. At that moment, Draco came. She walked up to him and kissed his cheek.

“There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to break the promise,” he doesn't answer and looks straight ahead. “What are you looking at?” she follows his glance and sees Harry talking to Katie Bell. She can feel Draco leaving her side and starts running after him, but she’s not the only one who follows. The two follow him to the bathroom. He looks completely broken looking into the mirror. She walks over to him and hugs him from behind.

She is so caught up in trying to comfort Draco that she doesn't acknowledge Harry coming in. He points his wand towards the two and shouts ‘Stupefy!’. Melia falls to the floor right away, hitting her head onto the floor. She uses some time to get to it again and when she does she hears the spell she didn’t want to hear leaving Harry’s lips. Draco fell on the floor, blood seeping out of him. She gets up and runs as fast as she can over to him. She grabbed her wand on the way and started muttering the counterspell. When she was done, she had blood all over her. _His_ blood. She looked up at Harry who was beginning to walk out of the bathroom, but Melia couldn’t let him get away with this.

She ran after him all the way to a crowded hallway. _Just because it’s crowded doesn't mean I’m not going to get you!_ she thought and shot a spell at him wordless. He blocked it effortlessly and the people around them made room for them. They stopped in the middle of the hallway and everyone wanted to witness the battle. They were wondering how the fight came too since Melia was covered in fresh blood and her eyes were stained with dried tears. Melia kept shooting spell after spell, but Harry just blocked them.

“Fight back you coward! Just do as you did before. Try to kill me too!” everyone looks over at Harry and murmurs begin erupting around the crowd. Ron and Hermione come up behind Harry and get terrified by Melia’s look. All the blood and the pure hatred in her eyes.

“Cru--” she doesn't get to finish the sentence as Severus comes behind Melia and grabs her by the waist trying to haul her away. “That’s quite enough, Melia!” he hisses into her ear. “Draco is alright thanks to your counterspell,” in the midst of the fight, she had forgotten a little that Draco was still lying on the floor in the bathroom. Melia collapsed in Severus’ arms and began crying again. Harry tried to move towards her, but Hermione pushed him back and glared at him. He froze on the spot and Hermione walked over to Melia, embracing her. Severus and Hermione take her to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey tells her he’ll be alright. Then she checked the small wound she got on her forehead when Harry shot the spell at her.

After hours of trying to persuade Melia to come with Hermione to her room, she agrees. She leads her up to the common room and says the password. They walk through the painting and towards her room. In the common room a few students, including Ron and Harry, sit looking at Melia with worried and confused eyes. Once again Harry tries to go towards her, but this time Ginny pushes him away and glares at him. He takes the hint and she follows Melia and Hermione up to their room. Melia takes a shower, washing off all _his_ blood.

“What happened?” Ginny asks Hermione while Melia is still in the shower.

“Harry used some kind of spell on Draco that almost killed him. Melia witnessed it and got very angry. If it hadn’t been for Professor Snape, Melia would have used the Cruciatus Curse on Harry,” Ginny looks over at her with worried eyes. Draco must have really been dying if she almost used the Cruciatus Curse on him. A few minutes of silence later, she comes out of the shower with some fresh clothes. Melia laid down on Hermione's bed and she also came later and laid beside Melia. She didn’t want to leave her for even one moment. Not after today's events. Ginny came over too and laid on the other side of Melia. She fell asleep fast and after the two other girls were sure Melia had fallen asleep, they fell asleep too.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

After what happened a few weeks ago, Melia had begun to shove people away. She wasn’t acting like herself. Not even towards Rosie. She woke up early, worked on the cabinet, skipping classes, not eating and visiting Draco. All of her friends are worried about her. Both the Gryffindors and Slytherins. She even hexed Harry the other day when he tried to apologize. Thanks to Severus, she didn’t have to get detention for it. Now the cabinet was done. Draco was on his way to Dumbledore while Melia was opening the cabinet for the others. When she was done, she started walking towards the Astronomy tower. She saw Harry and smirked at him before going up. He wanted to go towards her, but he couldn’t defy Dumbledore's orders.

“You’re not alone. Are you? There are others. How?”

Melia comes up the last steps and stands beside Draco, wand raised, “The Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. We’ve been mending it.”

“Camellia,” for the first time in a long time, Melia doesn't flinch at the use of her name. “Ingenious. Let me guess. It has a sister. A twin.”

“In Borgin & Burkes. They form a passage.”

“I once knew a boy years ago who made all the wrong choices. Let me help you, Draco.”

“That boy, _Albus_ , had a choice. Neither of us does,” he opens his mouth to answer Melia but she cuts him off. “And no, we don’t. Not when our other option is death.”

“We don’t want your help! Don’t you see! I have to do it! I have to-- I’ve got to kill you!” Draco looks deep into Dumbledore's eyes and begins to lower his wand. Melia holds her position, then they hear someone coming up to them. Bellatrix, Greyback and the others come up.

“Well now, look what we have here. Dumbledore. Wandless and alone. Cornered in his own castle. Well done, Draco, _Camellia,_ ” she says her name with pure disgust and Melia rolls her eyes.

“Good evening, Bellatrix. I think introductions are in order.”

“Love to, Albus. But I’m afraid we’re on a bit of a tight schedule,” she moves her head towards Draco. “Do it!” Draco raises his wand once again.

“He doesn’t have the stomach. Like his father. Let me finish him. In my own way.”

“No! The Dark Lord was clear. The boy’s to do it. Go on, Draco. Now!”

Melia moves towards Draco and places a hand on his shoulder, “Now, Draco!”

“No!” Severus comes up the stairs, his wand pointing right at Dumbledore.”Severus…” Dumbledore’s voice is pleading.

“Well, look who’s here. Hogwarts' own Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Come to see the slaughter?”

“Severus… please.”

“I gave my word. I made a vow…” he draws his wand back. “ _Avada Kedavra!_ ” A flash of green flies by them and hits Dumbledore square in the chest. He falls off the tower. Melia grabs Draco’s hand and brings him with her down the stairs. Bellatrix points her wand at the sky and a Dark Mark appears in the sky. Snape leads on, his face a mask as he rounds a corner. Students in pyjamas and robes stare curiously at their teacher and his companions. Snape sweeps past wordlessly. Draco averts his eyes while Melia just smirks horrifyingly at them and they cower away.

Bellatrix steps to the towering doors of the Hall, peering upward, past the floating candles to the vaulted ceiling. She raises her wand and sends a fiery bolt toward the grand window opposite. As it explodes, a blast of cold air sweeps the room, extinguishing the candles. Melia turns and looks back. Bellatrix simply grins like a mad child.

They begin running outside and Draco slows, glancing upward, as students come to the windows looking at the group. He sees his friends in one of the windows. They look at the group and wonder what is going on. Melia grabs his hand again. “If we don’t leave now, they’ll kill us!” she hisses. He swallows hard and follows her. They apparate right away when they get to the apparating point. They arrive at the Manor and Draco gets shocked by what meets him at the door. Lucius Malfoy stands in the entrance hall. Melia walks past him and winks at him, “Surprise?” She hugs Lucius and walks towards the drawing-room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	57. three of three curses

seventh year

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. It's Harry Potter. He's all bright, and shiny, and new again, just in time for the Dark Lord."

\- Bellatrix Lestrange

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the seats in the drawing-room were seated by Death Eaters. Well, almost all of them. They were waiting for two people to arrive. The Dark Lord was tapping his finger impatiently on the table. Then the doors of the room open and a young woman came in.

“I’m sorry, My Lord, for being late. But the blood traitor family put up quite a fight.”

“And you succeeded?”

“Did you expect anything else, My Lord,” he smirks horrifyingly and her. She sets herself down by Draco and kisses his cheek. Then Severus Snape suddenly comes in.

“I see more people like to be late,” Camellia smirks at the Dark Lord, while Severus looks questioningly in her direction. She tilted her head a little and put on her innocent face. He glared back at her and her smirk reappeared.

“You bring news I trust, Severus?”

“It will happen Saturday next. At nightfall.”

“I have heard differently, my Lord. Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that the Potter boy will not be moved until the thirtieth of this month, the night before he turns seventeen.”

Camellia decides to speak up, “This is a false trail. The Auror Office no longer plays any part in the protection of-- _Harry Potter_. Those closest to him believe we have infiltrated the Ministry. Well, they're not wrong, are they?” a few laughs erupt around the room.

“Where will he be taken? The boy?”

“To a safe house. Likely the home of someone in the Order. I’m told it has been given every manner of protection possible. Once there, it will be impractical to attack him. We may have compromised the Ministry, but there are those who remain loyal to him. As long as the Ministry stands, his allies within will have the means at their disposal to ensure his safety.”

“My lord, if I might,” Bellatrix looks at the Dark Lord in excitement. “I’d like to volunteer myself for this task. I’d like to kill the boy,” Camellia rolls her eyes at her and stops listening to the conversation. There’s nothing fun happening anyways. Bellatrix getting embarrassed in front of everyone isn’t exciting enough for her. Some conversations later and after Lucius gave his wand cowardly to the Dark Lord, he makes one of the former professors at Hogwarts float in front of them. The killing curse leaves his lips and the professor falls on the table with a thud.

 ** ** _“Nagini... dinner,”_**** Nagini slithers over the table towards the professor. Draco and some others look away, but Camellia looks at the scene unfolding with a smirk on her face. Then the meeting is done and almost everyone is dismissed except Camellia.

“I do not want you to come along on this one,” she opens her mouth to protest, but he holds up his hand to stop her. “You are far too close to the Order and _Potter_.”

“Surely, you wouldn’t think I still work for them, my Lord?”

“I don’t _think_ so, but I don’t know if I believe it or not. You will not come along and that’s an order.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“I have another mission I would rather you go on. We have gotten some new recruits. I believe you know them? Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini? They will accompany you on this mission,” he tells her more details about the mission before dismissing her. She walks up to her and Draco’s room where he is sitting, reading a book on his bed.

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“Blaise, Theo,” Camellia greets them firmly as she enters the drawing-room of the Manor. “Now, I hope you two have gotten all the information on the mission so that we can leave right away.”

“We have not.”

“I was told you would, but no can do. We have located a rebel base and will be infiltrating it. We are to leave no witnesses behind. No one--”

“We are to kill them?” Camellia glares at Theo, “Madam?”

“You heard me, didn’t you. We have used enough time as it is, let’s go,” she leads them out of the Manor with a few other Death Eaters. This isn’t one of the first ones she’s been on. Camellia has been on quite a few after the school year ended. The Dark Lord sent her on a mission to test her and when she came back faster and more successful than he thought she would, he took advantage of it and sent her on many missions. Some of them were easy and some were harder, but she always came back in victory. Not once had she come back before making sure the mission went as planned. Camellia grew in _his_ ranks and became one of the most infamous and feared Death Eaters.

They appeared outside of a rather small old house. Theo and Blaise placed themselves on either side of her while the other Death Eaters that were there walked towards the entrance. They blasted open the door and you could hear the horrifying screams of men, women and children, young and old. “Aren’t we going in?” Blaise asks from beside her. “No, we’re waiting for the fun part,” after some time they came out of the house with a few hostages and made them kneel beneath Camellia. She smirks down at them and puts a hand on Blaise's shoulder and one on Theo’s.

“Now boys. One thing all Death Eaters need to know is how to do the unforgivable curses. Choose one of the hostages and try to get some information out of them. I’ll tell you when to stop,” they look at each other before hesitantly moving towards a hostage. The curse leaves their lips and their ears get filled by their screams. She closes her eyes and looks up, a smile appearing on her face.

“Enough! They clearly don’t have any information or they just don’t want to give it up. Now, finish them,” this time their hesitation takes over them and they stand in front of the hostages frozen. “I thought you two were tougher than this, but I guess not. The Dark Lord won't be pleased with this.” Camellia puts her hand in front of her and casts the killing curse wordlessly and wandlessly, but the curse doesn't come out as it normally would. The green light of the spell flows through her hand, her eyes glowing and moves into different sections towards the hostages, killing them one by one. Neither Theo nor Blaise had seen this type of magic before and was terrified by it. The other Death Eaters started apparating away while Camellia and her two _friends_ stayed behind. She looks up at the sky again, but this time with open eyes.

“Are you proud of me now, _Mad-Eye_?” she smirks and laughs under her breath before she apparates away with the other Death Eaters. Theo and Blaise use some time to gather themselves after seeing Melia like that. They had never seen her so-- so evil. The Dark Lord had changed her completely and they were scared they wouldn’t be able to get the old Melia back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	58. changed

The Minister was moving in fast paste through the Manor. He had some things he needed with Camellia. She was sitting in the living room waiting for him. He walked inside and got a little terrified at the look he got from her, but he shook it off and sat himself down opposite of her. “Good morning. I hope I didn’t come too early, Miss Withlock?”

“That’s quite alright, Minister. What brings you here?”

“The will of Albus Dumbledore--,” Draco, who was standing behind Camellia, squeezed her shoulder a little. “Your name is listed in his will. To Camellia Black Withlock, I give you my phoenix, Fawkes. May she help you through dark times and be there for you when you need her the most.”

“He gave me his phoenix?”

“Yes--”

“Where is she?”

“Ehm… well, we don’t know. She disappeared after Dumbledore’s death and we haven’t been able to locate her,” she nods her head slowly.

“Was that all, Minister?” she asks and he gets up from the chair. “Yes, that was all. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Miss Withlock.”

“As you, Minister,” they escort him out and walk towards their room afterwards. Draco opens his mouth to speak, but she raises her hand to stop him. “Yes, I’m alright. We’re leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow so we need to pack.” She started walking towards her small trunk that she had put an expansion spell on and began packing. Draco followed her slowly. They pack everything they need and walk back downstairs. Camellia was asked to join on a mission and went out while Draco went to the kitchen where he hoped to find his mother. He had something he needed to discuss about his girlfriend. Ever since he got hurt before summer she had been acting like a completely different person. He began to see that the fight she had with Blaise was true on his part. She had changed, and not for the better.

Later that night Camellia came back completely exhausted. She fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. Draco went over to her and kissed her forehead, “I miss you--”

⊰ ❃ ⊱

The young couple were walking through the station. It was almost like last year, but more terrifying. Everyone knew about Camellia and Draco being Death Eaters and that she was the reason for almost half of the deaths that have been around lately. People were scared of her and didn’t dare look her in the eyes. If you look back on her first year at Hogwarts, no one would believe you if you said this was how she would end up. That time everyone hated her and judged her for her parents, they teased her and made her feel like she didn’t belong. That’s completely different from now. Now, even Draco is afraid of her and about what she can do if you get on her bad side.

They get inside the train and sits in the Slytherin compartment. Their friends come one after another and sit with them. They greet them shyly before sitting down. The train starts moving and some conversations start around the compartment, but there is no laughter or smiles. Almost everyone is scared and doesn't dare make too much sound. When they came about halfway on the trip, some Death Eaters came into the train looking for Harry. They didn’t find him and went to where Camellia was sitting.

“He’s not here, Madam.”

She doesn't even look at them or acknowledge their presence, “Did you believe he would?”

“Emh--” he looks at his partner. “No, Madam,” the two Death Eaters look at each other before apparating away. She makes one of her books appear and starts reading. The rest of the ride went pretty well with no disturbances. At the feast, Severus was announced as the new headmaster and some rules were applied. Draco and Camellia were still prefects and showed the first years around. All of them were scared and many people felt bad that the new Slytherin first years had to be shown around by the infamous Death Eater Camellia Withlock.

When they were done, they went to their common room and sat down at their usual spot on the sofa. Camellia placed her head in Draco’s lap and closed her eyes. He started stroking her hair while trying to listen to his friend's conversation. “How is she?” Blaise asks after some time, hoping she’s asleep.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

“She’s not Melia if that’s what you mean.”

Theo scoffs silently, “She’s terrifying. Whenever we are on a mission, I’m scared she’ll kill us too. That magic she does it’s-- I don’t even know how to describe it. Terrifying doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

Draco can feel Camellia move and moves his hand away in a fast movement. She sits up and looks at Theo who looks at her with wide eyes, “I’m glad you see me that way, _Nott_.” She turns to Draco and kisses him on the cheek with a smile, “I’m going to bed. Good night.” A few good nights come from her friends as she gets up and walks towards her bedroom. On the way, Rosie comes towards her and hugs her. She smiles widely and brings her with her.

“At least there is still some Melia left.”

“Rosie will always be a soft spot for Melia. No matter how much she changes,” the others nod their heads in agreement at Draco’s statement. 


	59. saved

“You’ve changed, Melia!” Draco shouted at his girlfriend. They had come back to the manor after Camellia was more needed there than at Hogwarts. She could have graduated long ago if it hadn’t been for Dumbledore’s promise to her parents, so she didn’t miss much by leaving. “You’re not yourself.”

“I feel more like myself than I have ever done since I came here!”

“No! You were you when you came here. Now you’re just a pawn in _his_ game! Melia, what have you been doing the past few months? You’ve tortured, killed and made people fear you! This is never what you wanted--”

“It was! Because of this, I don’t have to go through any more pain. Do you know how it feels to be tortured for a month without any break? No! The only way I could survive and make me not go through it again was by doing this.”

“You actually believe that? This is the easy way out, Melia!”

“Easy?! Easy?! Do you think this is easy? That my life is easy?”

“That’s not what I meant--”

“I need some air,” she starts walking out, smashing the door closed behind her. She walks towards the library. She goes in and flops down on the sofa and rubs her temples feeling a headache coming. She looks up again and goes towards the hidden books in the corner. She drags a finger across their back before taking out Lord of the Rings. She opens it and sees something on the first page. Someone had written something a long time ago.

_‘This book will always be our start. I will always be remembered of you when I see or hear about this book. And this is the token of our love.’_

⊰ ❃ ⊱

“What could be so important that you had to take me away from the mission? I don’t think Blaise and Theo have the stomach to actually finish them off--”

“Camellia,” Lucius hisses in a low voice and gestures towards what is happening in front of her. 

“Oh, we have company. Isn’t Bella skilled enough to finish the job?” Bellatrix growls at Camellia while she walks to where Narcissa is standing. Her face almost falls as she turns around and sees the trio standing there. She locks eyes with Hermione who looks terrified at her. She’s not able to listen to anything of the conversation and keeps her eyes locked with Hermione. It’s almost like they are in a trans. Her head then suddenly shots up as Bellatrix uses different spells on the Snatchers that brought them in. 

“Where did you get this sword?! Was it you dearie?” Bellatrix moves towards Hermione, her wand pointing at her neck. Hermione shakes her head no, “No?! Then how come you have it?”

“Because I gave it to them,” Draco nudges her side. “I stole the sword from your vault.”

Bellatrix moves closer to Camellia, “How?”

“Your vault is right under mine. Getting into it wasn’t that hard--”

“When? You have always been here--”

“No, I haven’t. Don’t you remember that day a few months back when no one knew where I was,” Bellatrix furrows her brows, trying to think about the events. Then she remembered that day. She had walked around the house and couldn’t find her. Just Draco all alone in his room. “That’s where I went.”

Bellatrix grabs Melia by her hair and throws her on the ground. She lets out a small gasp. Draco tries to move forward, but Narcissa holds him back. Hermione is just standing there, watching. For the first time, she doesn’t know what to do. The boys stand a little behind and try to think of what to do too, but can’t take their eyes off Melia either. Bellatrix takes out her wand and points it at Melia. As she had almost gotten up, Bellatrix shouts out the curse Melia feared the most and she falls down with a scream. She tries to hold it in, but the feeling of the curse on her body was too much. It was even worse than she remembered.

Her screams suddenly stopped, but Bellatrix kept using the spell. She thought she had only destroyed her voice again, which pleased her. Melia’s eyes started glowing and a dark blue light flowed around her. She gets up from the floor slowly and Bellatrix stares at her with a terrified look. She swayed a little and tried to get back her balance. After a few seconds, she did and smirked at Bellatrix before screaming as loud as she could. The dark blue light moved around in what looked like a graceful dance and her hair was flowing around her. She looked horrifying yet beautiful. All the windows in the room broke and everyone except the trio was thrown back. 

Lucius got up fast after her screams stopped, but Harry got his wand and stunned him. Melia pointed at the cellar and Ron ran down there. He came back a few moments later with Luna, Ollivander, Griphook and Dobby. Melia began to feel a sudden pain in her head. It felt like something was pounding inside her head. She stumbled into Hermione who caught her. As they made themselves ready to apparate away, Bellatrix got up from the floor and threw a knife at them. It joined them in the apparation and the last thing Melia saw before they apparated was Draco’s warm smile. He was finally able to see her saved from herself. 

Melia looks up into the sky. She had landed a few meters away from the others. It’s so calming where she lies. She can hear the waves wash up against the shore and she can feel the wet sand underneath her. She turns around on her side slowly, watching the waves instead of just listening to them. She can hear someone approaching and shouting her name, but she’s too out of it to acknowledge the person. _I’m sorry I just left you, Draco. But if I were to do it again, I would. For Hermione-- Ron-- Harry. I couldn’t bear watching Hermione getting tortured. This choice was the best one I have made in the past few months. I’ve done too much evil. Killed, tortured. I deserved this and the best part is, I got to save my best friend from my pain…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	60. battle of hogwarts I

battle of hogwarts

"Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

\- Dobby the free elf

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few days since the trio had taken Melia with them to the cottage. She had used so much energy that day that she was completely out of it when they arrived here. She hadn’t woken up yet and the others were beginning to become worried about her. They had never seen magic like that before and never seen Melia doing that powerful magic. What they also didn’t expect was her helping them. They had heard so many stories about her. When Ron came back again he told them something he had heard some Snatches talk about. One of them told the other Snatchers about a girl named Camellia Withlock who had climbed in _his_ ranks and had the best success rate when it came to missions. Every Death Eater and Snatcher were afraid of her. Ron even caught a glimpse of her and had never seen her act like that before. At first, he didn’t believe it was her.

From beside Melia’s bed, a rather loud crash could be heard and she opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes were blurry and she had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the light. She saw a beautiful young woman in front of her and when she looked closer she recognized the person as Fleur Delacour. Fleur smiled warmly at her and helped Melia get up in a sitting position. Her head was pounding hard and her voice soared. She opened her mouth to try to speak, but Fleur gestured a no with her hands.

“Don’t. Your voice should be fine but wait for a little time. Just to be sure,” Melia nods her head and grabs the water on the bed table. Fleur had put some clothes in her bed and told her that breakfast was soon ready. She nodded her head and began changing when she had left the room. Melia grabbed the pants, socks and the tank top before making Draco’s Slytherin sweater appare. She was not in the mood to wear Gryffindor right now. She took a deep breath and opened the door, walking down the stairs. The moment she stepped down, someone embraced her in a tight hug. “Melia!” she smiled as she recognized the voice.

Hermione used a lot of time before she let her go and they sat down by the table. They started eating in silence, not an uncomfortable one. They were sitting there, being happy they survived the fight that happened at the Manor, but they were also silently grieving the death of Dobby. Now he was more a free elf than before. “Since when could you do that kind of magic, Melia?” Harry suddenly asks her.

“I don’t know. I have done wandless and wordless magic before, but I have never done anything like that before. It felt so right like there was this voice in my head giving me instructions. I did as they said, which I’m glad I did,” she looks up at Hermione. “Because I saved _you_ ,” The trio nods their heads at her. They are all grateful for her saving them and wondering if what Ron told them about her is true.

“Will you come to Gringotts with us? Your rank can get us in easier--”

“No.”

“What?”

“Yes, I had a high rank, but a few days ago I betrayed the Dark Lord. I know very well what happens to people who betray the Dark Lord. I’ve killed many people who did what I just did.”

They all share a few glances at her confession, “So, it’s true then? The stories about you killing people and being the best _soldier_ in his army?”

“Yes, all of them are true. I’ve killed more people than I can count. I lost myself and started to believe that it was the right thing to do. That I was helping when I was making it worse,” a tear falls down her face, which she wipes away harshly. “I’m sorry--” she gets up from the chair and starts walking outside. The others let out loud breaths sharing a few glances. Hermione grabs hers and Melia’s coat before running after her. She caught up to her at the moment she apparates. Hermione looks around the room, wondering where Melia apparated.

“Where are we?”

“My house--” she moves towards the pictures on the small table by the fireplace. She grabs the photo of her, Draco and Hermione from when she was in the hospital wing in fourth year. The school nurse had taken the picture because she thought it was a happy memory that had to be captured. And it wasn’t every day you saw Draco Malfoy smiling that widely in front of other people. Hermione walked up beside her and looked at the pictures. There were old and new photos. Melia had been there many times in the past months and put up some new photos she had taken from her room at the Black’s house, with the help of Kreacher.

“I remember this one,” Hermione says as she takes the one with her and Melia the first time they visited Hogsmeade together. Melia smiled at the memory. She sets down the photo she was looking at and takes a larger photo of her and her team of Death Eaters. She walks over to the sofa and sits down. “Who are they?”

“They were my team when I worked for the Dark Lord. Very skilled people and also good people. It may sound weird hearing it, but they weren’t all bad.”

“Is that Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott,” Hermione asks and points at the two younger boys standing beside Melia.

“Yes, they became part of my team later than the others. The Dark Lord wanted me to teach them the ways of a Death Eater. They never killed anyone though,” Hermione just hugged her as she saw tears starting to run down her face. They sat there for a few hours, looking at pictures and talking before they went back to the cottage. The others got angry at them but were mostly worried. But the two girls didn’t care. They needed this time with each other, so their scolding didn’t bother them.


	61. battle of hogwarts II

“You bloody fools! What were you thinking coming here? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is--”

“They know how dangerous it is, Aberforth, but we don’t care,” the trio looks at Melia with wide eyes. They left for Gringotts without her and didn’t know when they would see her again. She walked towards Hermione and hugged her, “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come or not.”

Hermione laughs under her breath, “It’s not that easy to rob Gringotts.” Melia shakes her head playfully. Aberforth goes to get some food for the trio and comes back later. Melia walks to the picture of Ariana, telling her to get Neville. Ariana nods her head with a smile.

“You don’t strike me as a fool, Mr. Potter. So I’ll ask you again. There must be a reason. Why do you trust anything my brother ever said to you? Why?”

“Because I need to. Because if I don’t, I don’t know who I am anymore. I’ve lost too many people to lie down now. I’m not interested in what happened between you and your brother, I don’t even care that you’ve given up. I trust the man I knew. I’m going to see this through,” he pauses looking at the others. “I need to get into the castle tonight.” Aberforth nods his head at Melia who just winks at him with a smirk. Ariana comes back with Neville and the trio smiles warmly at the boy. They walk through the tiny hallway with Neville and Melia in the front. She had been at the castle a few times, giving the others food. They really hated Aberforth’s cooking, so Melia helped make food they could actually eat. Almost all of them didn’t trust her at first, but after some time they started to believe her more and more. But they were still scared of her.

“How bad is it, Neville? With Snape as Headmaster?”

“Hardly ever see him. It’s the Carrows you have to watch out for-- oh and Camellia!” they stop for a moment looking at Melia. “I’m sorry, I forgot,” she just shakes her head and keeps walking. She opens the door and gets out. People look at her with scared eyes and she just rolls her eyes. While the trio gets praised and applauded, Melia starts walking to where the Order would arrive. She didn’t want to stay by the trio right now, because people still saw her as a Death Eater, a monster. She came to the point where they would come and when they saw her Percy through a spell at her. A dark blue light flowed out of her and blocked the spell automatically.

“Well, that was totally unnecessary,” she looks behind him and over to Bill.

“We told them, it’s just that my brother is a little trigger happy,” he says as he places a hand on his brother's shoulder. Melia laughs and goes towards Remus, hugging him and apologizing.

“Melia, everyone loses themselves sometimes. But as long as you can get back, it doesn't matter,” she smiles at him before showing them the safest way to the Great Hall. They wait for the right moment to strike. The door opens and the Order walks in; Melia. Ron. Hermione. Remus. Arthur. Molly. Fred. George. Percy. Luna. Dean Thomas. Bill. Fleur and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“It would seem that, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster,” Severus looks right at Harry before locking eyes with Melia who gives him a faint smile. You could see his eyes softening a little at her small gesture, but then he remembered where he was and his face turned blank again.

“How dare you stand where he stood?!” Snape watches Harry draw his wand, pointing it at him. “Tell them how it happened that night. Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you... and killed him. Tell them!” Severus hesitates a little before taking out his wand. Minerva pushes away Harry to fight Severus. The Carrow siblings get their wands too so Melia raises her hand in front of her and lights of green move towards them. They know all too well what it means and apparates right away. _Cowards!_ The order looks at her with wide eyes. They had heard of this magic she had done, but they had never seen it.

Severus takes the measure of the room and sweeps his wand over his head, reducing the torches that line the wall to smoke and pitching the hall into total darkness. Then he apparates away too. Minerva lights the hall again, shouting after Severus. Then Harry suddenly winces slightly, pressing his fingers to his temple. Melia can feel her neck starting to burn a little too and winces in pain.

A slow rumbling fills the hall. Harry and Melia glance up and sees dark clouds coagulating in the enchanted ceiling. Minerva follows their gaze, as do others, watching as the clouds shift eerily, like blots of blood. Suddenly the flames in the torches along the walls tremble as a chill breeze consumes the room. The hall slowly dims and everyone becomes silent until a loud scream can be heard from one side of the room. Harry rushes through the crows pushing past them until he finds a young Ravenclaw student screaming louder and louder.

Everyone watches, afraid and confused about what’s happening. Harry starts to move towards Melia, who winces in pain. Harry notices and moves towards her putting a hand on her shoulder when he himself winces, pressing his fingers to his temples. Another person screams somewhere in the Hall, then another. All are a mirror image of the Ravenclaw student now, grimacing in pain. Harry and Melia stare, confused, stricken with pain. Then a deathly whisper fills their heads;

“ _I know that many of you will want to fight. Some of you may even think this wise. But this is folly. I wish you no harm. I have great respect for the students of Hogwarts. I was once one myself after all. I ask for but one thing and if granted no magical blood shall be spilt… Give me Harry Potter. Do this and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded,_ ” everyone’s eyes move towards Harry, then a younger Slytherin student points at him.

“But he's there! Potter’s there! Someone grab him!” instinctively, Ginny steps in front of Harry, wand drawn. Then, as one, the Gryffindors assemble in a line and face towards the Slytherins, shielding Harry. Moments later, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs do the same. Harry’s eyes glitter at the sight, moved. Ginny lowers her wand. Then Filch comes running in.

“Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!”

“They’re supposed to be out of bed, you blithering idiot!”

“Oh. Sorry, ma’am.”

“Wait! As it turns out, Mr. Filch, your arrival is most opportune. If you would, I’d like you to lead Miss Heather and the rest of Slytherin House from the Hall.”

“Right away,” he stops for a moment. “Er, exactly where is it I’d be leading them to, ma’am?”

“The dungeons should do,” Melia looks at Minerva wondering if she heard right. She can’t make the whole Slytherin house leave!

“Stop. You can’t do this, Minerva,” some of the students look at her bewildered as she uses her first name. “The whole house doesn't deserve to be thrown into the dungeons just because one person wanted to survive.”

“The Slytherin house is only on _his_ side!” a boy in the crowd shouts.

“No, they're not. The only one who is from the Slytherin house willingly is me. I was the only one who did it of choice,” a few gasps erupts around the hall. She turns to the Slytherins, “Those of you who want to fight for your home stays. The rest of you can leave with Filch,” some of the students take a few glances at everyone before following Filch. Not only Slytherin students, but also from the other houses. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	62. battle of hogwarts III

Melia ran with Ron and Hermione to the chamber of secrets to get a basilisk fang. Melia thought she would do better there than following Harry. They got to the door and she opened it up. They looked at her with wide eyes but didn't dare ask. They went inside and saw the skeleton of the basilisk lying there. Ron moved forward and grabbed two fangs. He gave one to Melia and Hermione laid down the Hufflepuff cup they had gotten at Bellatrix' vault. Hermione reaches out, her hand trembling, and takes the fang from his fingers. She raises her arm-- still as glass for a moment-- then hits the cup. It flies towards the water and Melia falls to the ground in pain. She gasps for air as the pain in her neck is almost unbearable.

A wave of water rushes towards Ron and Hermione, stops for a second before washing over them. They stand, utterly still, as the water runs off their bodies and pools at their feet. For a moment, they stay like that, unmoving, as if amazed to have survived, then their eyes find each other. They close the space between them and kiss. They move in sync as they were made for this moment. Melia gets up from the ground, taking the fang up from the floor and stutters towards them.

"As cute as that was, we have something more important to do now," they nod their heads at her and start going towards the door. Melia stays behind a little trying to catch her breath before following them. They went towards the room of requirements because Harry vanished from the map and Ron thought that's where he would go. They went inside and Melia split from the others. She felt something pulling her towards another part of the room. She could hear some voices as she rounded a big pile of chairs.

"Why didn't you tell her? Bellatrix. You knew it was me. But you didn't say anything."

"Because I told him not to."

"Melia!" she kisses Draco's cheek and moves to stand beside Harry, but Draco grabs her arm as Goyle suddenly casts the killing curse at him. Instead of hitting Harry it hits the diadem and sends it flying up into the pile of scrap. Ron runs after Goyle with Blaise, Draco and Melia on his heels. She was going to go with the trio, but Draco kept a strong hold on her wrist. Goyle casts a fire spell that he's not able to control and the fire starts spreading fast. They begin climbing the pile of scrap in a fast paste, but Goyle loses his grip and falls into the fire. "Goyle!" They all shout in unison. They start climbing faster until they arrive at the top, standing on a table. The table starts shaking and they have to grab the side of it, hanging from the side.

"Draco--"

"We'll get out of this... somehow," then the trio suddenly comes flying past them. Melia locks eyes with Hermione pleading for her to get them out of here. They fly back and Harry grabs Draco, Ron grabs Blaise while Hermione grabs Melia. The instant Melia's foot leaves the mountain of junk, it collapses into a big cloud of ash. They fly out and crash into the floor. As Hermione rolls over, the diadem spins madly on the ground. Harry snatches it quickly as if it might run away and Hermione tosses him the basilisk fang. He stares down at the smoking diadem and briefly pauses. Then, without hesitation, he drives the fang into the blackened crown.

Harry grimaces in agony and roars with pain, the veins at his temple throbbing, his knuckles turning white as he grips the basilisk fang. The fang crumbles in Harry's fist and he stares towards the ceiling, gasps desperately, purging himself of the pain. He looks down, regarding the diadem with a kind of mournful horror, then Ron kicks it back into the room of requirement, where it explodes in a vortex of flames and the room reseals itself. Melia hisses in pain and Draco runs over to her, caressing her in his lap. She tries to block her mind as something is trying to enter it. After some time, she's back again and looks into her lover's stormy grey eyes. She touches his cheek and he leans into her touch before leaning down, kissing her hard. Then Hermione grabs her hand and hauls her up from the floor, "As cute as that was, we have something more important to do now," she says with a small smirk. Melia rolls her eyes and follows her.

They ran towards the boathouse, but on the way, Melia saw something happening in one of the halls. The trio continues running, not seeing her stop. She saw a young Slytherin girl duelling a Death Eater. He points his wand at the girl and shouts one of the unforgivable curses. "Nooo!" but she's too late. The spell had already left the Death Eaters wand. Melia's eyes started glowing and green light mixed with dark blue flowed around her and through every Death Eater in the hall. As the light went through the Death Eaters, they exploded into a million dust particles. Their wands clashing down on the stone floor. As the light went back to the owner, she fell onto the stone floor, crawling towards the young girl who was lying on the cold floor with much less energy than before and a broken heart. She cradled the girl and pushed her short black hair away from her face. Her eyes were open and looked into nothingness, fresh tears still running down her face. She closed her eyes and wiped away her tears, her sobs filling the hall.

The other students who were duelling with the Death Eaters that were there earlier moved closer to the two girls. A Gryffindor fourth year sat down beside Melia and put her head on her shoulder while rubbing circles on her back. The other students in the hall followed the young student and did the same. People from all the houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They don't know how long they sat there, but after a while, two Professors came and took the young girl to the Great Hall. Melia wouldn't let the Professors touch her and lifted her up. She followed them in there but got stopped by Draco on the way.

"Melia! I was so worried!" he looks down at the young girl in her arms and recognizes her. His breath starts to hitch, "Is that-- no it can't be--"

Melia just walked past him and placed her down on the ground, putting a blanket around her. Draco kneeled down and hugged Melia as more sobs escaped her lungs, "I tried. I really tried, but I was too late. She died right in front of me--" the young couple looked like a sobbing mess where they sat, just looking at the young girl they loved so much. Both of them had loved her so much and felt like she was almost their child.

She was their light and that light just got extinguished. The couple would no longer be able to listen to her soft laughs and see her smile as she walks into a room where the couple would be sitting, hugging them hard and telling them how much she loves them. That would end now. Because the young girl was no longer here.

Rosie was lying lifeless in front of them... _I'm so sorry I couldn't save you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	63. battle of hogwarts IV

" _You have fought valiantly... but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured._

" _Harry Potter, I speak now directly to you. On this night you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour._

" _Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. Should you do so I give my word that no other life will be lost on this night. You have one hour. If, at the end of that time, you have not given yourself up, then I shall punish every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me._ "

Melia walked through the Great Hall. She had walked by every body lying on the floor to see if anyone she knew had died. She had gone by Tonks and Remus earlier and couldn't believe her eyes, but she bit her tongue and went on. She passed the Weasley family and saw Fred lying on the floor. A loud sob escaped her lungs and Ginny came up to her and hugged her hard. She stood with them for a few moments before she began walking around again. She saw some of her friends standing in one of the corners. She went to them and saw a blond-haired girl lying on the floor. She collapsed on the floor beside her with a loud sob. Pansy, who was already sitting on the floor beside her girlfriend, hugged Melia.

She couldn't deal with all the sorrow happening in the Great Hall and went out. She sat down on the foot of the stairs, looking into nothingness. After some time, both Hermione and Ron came hand in hand and sat down beside her. Hermione placed her hand around her while holding Ron's hand. They sit there for god knows how long before Harry shows up. Hermione hugs him right away and begs him not to go. Melia knows very well he has to and won't try to stop him. She gets up and hugs him.

"We'll see each other soon, Harry," he knew what she meant right away and just nodded his head at her. "Kill the snake. Kill the snake and then it's just him. Then it will be over," Melia squeezes his hand once more before stepping back, hugging Hermione who cried into her shoulder. Ron came over to them and joined the hug. Melia saw in her side view a blond boy moving and ran towards him. She sat down by him on the stone steps, lying her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead and took her hand in his.

Then Ginny comes out and stands beside Neville who was standing a few meters in front of the young couple, "Who's that? ...Hagrid's carrying? Neville, who is that?" Before he can answer, others begin to spill out of the castle asking the same questions as Ginny. Neville starts to speak but falters simply because he can't bear to look at Ginny's face and the faces of the others looking to him for something, anything, he turns his gaze to the Hat dangling in his hand. Melia gets up from the stairs looking at the people approaching.

Voldemort and the others draw nearer to the grounds. Voldemort surveys the ruins of the castle and the beaten posture of the throng assembled upon its steps. He smiles faintly, with cruel satisfaction. Everyone stands silently as _his_ army comes to a halt before them. All eyes drift to Hagrid and what lays in his arms. Ginny's primal cry echoes over the grounds as she rushes towards Voldemort, but Arthur steps between and wraps his daughter in his arms, letting her struggle briefly before pulling her tighter, closer, safer.

"SILENCE! Stupid girl. You cry for that? Tell me. These last few hours-- as you collected the dead and tended your wounded-- was he by your side?

"While your hands ran dark with the blood of mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, brothers and sisters, his were clasped in prayer -- but it was a prayer for one and one only. While you battled courageously, until you could no longer will yourself to stand, he had long since fallen to his knees. While you cursed me until your voices grew ragged, he begged me for mercy in a voice as meek as a child's.

"So do not cry for that. He's not worthy of your tears. And do not despair of his betrayal. You were never in his heart. Not for one single solitary beat."

"Liar," Ron shouts. Voldemort flicks his wand and Ron drops to his knees, grimacing in pain. Voldemort gestures to him.

"Did you not hear me! Harry Potter is dead! From this day forward, you put your faith in me or suffer the consequences. HARRY POTTER IS DEAD! Now is the time to declare yourself."

"Draco... Camellia..." Lucius reaches out his hand for them to come. Everyone looks at them, wondering if they'll go or not. "Don't be stupid--" They hesitate a little, but then Narcissa speaks up, "Draco, Camellia come..." Melia looks over at Voldemort who just nods his head at her. She swallows harshly before grabbing Draco's hand harder. They share a glance before walking towards them. They pass Hermione and the others who looks at the two of them. She tries to not lock eyes with them because she's afraid she'll begin crying. They stepped right towards them and Voldemort gave Draco an awkward hug. Narcissa placed a hand on Melia's shoulder.

Melia holds Draco's hand even harder, trying to not falter under the eyes of everyone. Neville steps forward and Melia looks at him with curiosity. She doesn't understand why he would go forward. "I'd like to say something. It doesn't matter that Harry is gone."

"Stand down, Neville," Seamus shouts at him.

"People die every day. Friends. Family. Yes, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, here--" he taps on his heart. "And so is Fred and Remus and Tonks and Rosie and... all of them. They didn't die in vain," Melia smiles sorrowfully at the mention of Rosie. Then he turns towards Voldermort's army, "But you will. And you and you and you will. Because you're wrong. Harry's heart did beat for us. All of us..." Neville takes a step forward and looks Voldemort in the eye, then he reaches into the Sorting Hat. Scarlet glints in Voldemort's eyes and he smiles, raising the Elder Wand when Neville-- in keen anticipation-- reaches into the Sorting Hat and pulls forth the Sword of Gryffindor. Gasps emit from the crowd, and then Harry gets out of Hagrid's hands and runs forward. Melia takes the wand from Draco's hand and runs towards him.

"Harry!" she says as she hands him the wand. With his wand in hand, he turns and fires a spell on Voldemort. He blocks the spell, eyeing Harry with mild disbelief, then anger. Flames run the length of Nagini-- with no effect-- then climb the back of a nearby Death Eater and consume him. Enraged that Harry has attacked Nagini, Voldemort fires multiple curses at him. Harry runs towards the Great Hall.

Narcissa grabs Melia's hand hard and hauls her with her. They run across the bridge and stop in the middle where Draco and Lucius are waiting for them. they looked like they were making themselves ready to apparate, but Melia couldn't leave yet. There was still so much of the battle left. She takes her hand out of her hold harshly and looks her in the eyes, "I'm sorry, but I can't leave. Not now. Not when my friends and family are still fighting for their lives. Go home if you'd like, but I'm staying."

They look at her bewildered and Draco just smiles proudly at her before moving to stand beside her, "I'm staying too. Hogwarts has been our home for years and we want to fight for it."

"Draco!" Lucius hisses, while Narcissa just moves towards them and hugs them. "Be safe, both of you. We'll be waiting at the Manor," Melia nods her head with a smile before grabbing Draco's hand and running back towards the castle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	64. battle of hogwarts V

****Warning! there will be something happening later in this chapter that may be triggering for some readers. I won’t say what because it’ll spoil the whole ending. I’m sorry, but now you’re prepared.** **

The battle had started for full again and the two of them got split up as they ran helping different people. Melia had lost her wand somewhere earlier and had to fight wandless. Not that she didn’t mind. She was almost better at spells without her wand than with it. She ran inside the Great Hall and saw different duels happening. Melia went over to where Molly was fighting Bellatrix.

“NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” she smiles at Molly’s choice of words before stepping onto the benches they was standing on. Molly gave Bellatrix a smirk as she saw Melia approaching. Bellatrix, confused, turned around looking straight into Melia’s eyes.

“I’ve waited a long time for this, _Bella_ ,” she says taunting. Bellatrix growls at her and casts multiple spells at Melia, which she just blocks with lights of dark blue. It’s almost too easy. Suddenly the dark blue mixes with a green colour and moves towards Bellatrix. It disarms her and holds her in place, “Any last words, _Bella_?”

“ _One must die for the other to live_ ,” Melia’s smirk falters as she makes the light flow through Bellatrix and she explodes into dust particles. Then she suddenly felt a pain in her neck and thought that Nagini must have been killed. She ran out of the Great Hall and saw Harry and Voldemort landing a few meters from each other outside. They reached for their wands and shot different spells at each other. The spells merged together in the middle and were moving back and forth. It looked like Voldemort was about to win. Then she remembered something…

_“I knew that the reason for your parent’s disappearance had to be because they didn’t want to be death eaters anymore. They tried to flee, get you to safety and away from anything that had to do with the Dark Lord. You see, the Dark Lord saw that your parents wanted out when they found out Olivianna was pregnant with you. He made them stay by making you his… well, his property in a way. Not in a dirty way, but in a way where he could use you on his side of the war. Make you a weapon._

_“That’s why you have been learning magic from a very young age. With my father’s contacts in the Ministry, you were able to perform underaged magic without consequences. Now I see that your parents didn’t do it to make you a weapon for him, but to make you strong enough to stand up to him. To fight him, not fight for him.”_

~

****_“Camellia-- How’s your mission going?”_ ** **

_“As expected my Lord. I have failed you before and I will not fail you again,” his infamous terrifying smirk appears on his face, for more than her answer._

_“Good…” he started talking more about her mission and explaining more about the importance of the mission. But Melia couldn’t understand the confused looks of the other people in the room. When he was done and had left, Draco came up to her._

_“What was that?”_

_“What?”_

_“The conversation. I didn’t-- We didn’t understand anything of it,” she looks at the others who nods their heads in agreement. ‘How couldn’t they have understood?’_

_~_

_“Camellia, welcome back. But if I remember right, I told you to go to the manor right after the fight, but you did not.”_

_“I’m sorry, My Lord. The death of my uncle took a bigger toll on me than I thought.”_

_“I do not care about-- If it hadn’t been for your parents' promise to me, I would have killed you long ago,” he says as he walks around her like she is some kind of prey. “You are far too crucial for my plan. That’s the only reason I’m keeping you alive. Do you understand?”_

_“Yes, my Lord.”_

_~_

_“How did you get this scar?”_

_“What scar?”_

_“This one on your back-- it looks like a lightning.”_

_“Oh, I got it when I was younger. I fell,” he nods his head and starts kissing her again. ‘A lightning scar? I’ve never noticed it before. Could it be--’_

All this time Melia has had this feeling. Like she knows more than she wants to admit. Ever since Draco told her about her past in third year, she has known, but she’s been too scared of the truth. Too scared to admit it. She makes the basilisk fang she had in her dimensional pockets appear and lifts it high above her head before striking it right in her stomach. Voldemort and Harry’s spell breaks apart as _he_ can feel her pain. Harry turns around and sees Melia falling on her knees. More people start to come out onto the courtyard. Draco runs over to his girlfriend, but he’s not fast enough as she takes the fang out of her stomach and sticks it right through her heart. She falls back onto the ground at the same time as Voldemort falls onto his knees. Harry knew right away why she did it and used her death as a chance of destroying Voldemort. He cast one final spell and Voldemort exploded into dust particles.

Draco caresses Melia in his lap, “No-- no. Don’t leave me. Please--”

“I’m sorry, Love-- ‘You never know when it will be the last time you'll see your loved ones’.”

“ ‘Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I Leave You.’ You just had to quote that as you die, didn’t you?” she smiles at him and moves her hand to lightly touch his cheek, but before she’s able to, her hand falls down and her eyes close. One final breath leaves her lungs. “Melia? Melia?! Please--” he moves her close to his chest hugging her harder as loud sobs escape his lungs. He rocks her back and forth. People start gathering around the young couple and their hearts break as they see the picture unfolding in front of them. Hermione cries into Ron’s chest and Harry leans on her shoulder. Blaise moves towards his friends and tries to calm him down, in no vain. He lets go of Melia slowly, but then a light of dark blue fills their eyes. Her eyes open, glowing, and her necklace starts glowing too. Everyone stared bewildered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	65. battle of hogwarts VI

Melia opens her eyes. She looks around, but her eyesight is blurry and she has to blink a couple of times to see right. After blinking a few times she sees she’s lying outside in the garden of her house. She gets up from the ground and sees that her clothes have changed into a white long dress and that the garden looks whiter than she remembers. She sees the koi fishes swimming in the pond. To her right, a disgusting creature lies on the ground. It almost looks like a miniature Voldemort, she noted as she moved closer. Then she heard something that sounded a lot like a piano playing from inside the house. She walked slowly inside and saw a young woman sitting by the piano playing her mother's favourite song, Fly.

“Mom?”

The woman stops playing and turns around looking at her beautiful daughter, “Camellia, oh how beautiful you have turned out. You look so grown up.” Melia furrows her brows in confusion as her mother embraces her, but she hugs back nonetheless.

“Where are we?”

“Our house--”

“I know that, but you’re dead. And-- and I’m also dead…” she says looking down at the floor. Olivianna takes a finger under her daughter's chin and makes her meet her eyesight, “Not yet. You have a choice, Melia. You can either stay here or you can go back. What do you choose?”

“I-- I don’t know. What if I chose to stay here?”

“Then I’ll accept it, but remember everyone you leave behind. Come here, honey,” Olivia takes her daughters hand and walks towards the photo table. She grabs one of the larger photos Melia had never seen before and shows it to her. Melia took it and saw Draco holding her body, crying hysterically asking for her to come back. She sees the trio crying silently and the other students standing around her and Draco. Then Blaise suddenly comes up beside Draco and tries to calm him down.

“What is this?”

“This is what is happening right now. Do you really want to leave everyone like that?”

“No--”

Olivia smiles at her daughter, “You’ll have a chance to be with me and dad later, but now is not your time. But it may be soon, honey. I’m gonna give you a choice. You know the necklace we left behind? That necklace has all of mine and your father’s magic in it. After we casted that spell on you, we hid our magic there for you to use. You have already used it well-- Now, for the choices. With that necklace, you can revive the people you lost.”

“What?”

“By giving up your necklace you can save a few people, like Sirius, Remus-- and Rosie.”

Tears start streaming down Melia’s face, “I can save them?”

“Yes, but it’ll come at a great cost. I see into your future that you’ll not have a long happy life, but a short happy life. Live your days as if it was your last. You never know when it will be the last time.”

“And if I choose to not give up the necklace, I will live a long and happy life without the people I lost?”

“That’s right,” she nods her head and hugs her mother one last time. Then a white light consumes her and she wakes up again, but this time in Draco’s arms. He looks at her, wondering if it’s real.

“Hey--” her sentence gets cut off as she feels a pain in her stomach and her heart. It seems she was able to get back, but her wounds weren’t healed. _Am I really going to die again because of my wounds?!_ As the thought went through her mind, an orange bird came flying down. Fawkes. She landed beside Melia and healed her wounds with her tears. Her breath starts to become normal again and she smiles at the bird thankfully. It almost looked like it smiled at her before flying away. Melia looked back at her Love who had tears streaming down his face. She wiped them away with her thumbs and he kissed her hard.

Some people in the crowd started whistling and they broke apart. Melia blushed a little as she saw all the people standing around them. They got up from the ground and she was attacked right away by hugs. The trio all hugged her, crying. She just smiled, feeling happy about her choice. They let go of her and Melia grabbed Draco’s hand, hauling him with her and the trio. They started walking over the bridge and stopped in the middle looking at the destroyed castle.

“Why didn’t it work for him? The Elder wand,” Hermione asks Harry as he takes it out, studying it.

“Because it answers to another. When he killed Snape, he thought the wand would become his. But the thing is... it never belonged to Snape. It was Draco who disarmed Dumbledore that night on the Astronomy Tower,” they look at Draco who looks away. “From that moment on, the wand answered to him. Until the other night… when I disarmed Draco.”

“But that means--”

“It answers to me,” Harry takes the wand above his knee and breaks it in two. Hermione and Ron gasp. Harry ignores them and tosses the pieces down the bridge. He places himself by the edge of the bridge looking out into the horizon. Meli stands beside him, holding his hand and laying her head on his shoulder. Draco comes up beside her and places his hand on her lower back. Hermione and Ron do the same on his other side.

“I can’t believe it’s over.”

“Me neither,” Melia smiles up at Harry before putting her head on his shoulder again. _It’s over…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N) Some of the lines in this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie script, which mean that I don't own it. Everything else is written by me.


	66. many years later

_‘Dear diary,_

_Wow, I can’t believe it has already been so long since the war ended. So much has happened since then. After the war ended, me and Draco moved into my house. We shared some beautiful moments before our first child was born. I’ll come back to that later. How about I start with my happiest moment from after the war._

Draco’s hands were trembling as he waited for Melia to come home. She had stayed at Hermione’s for the day while Draco was at work. After everything that happened with Melia in their years at Hogwarts, he never wanted to see her get sick or hurt again, so he chose to be a healer. He currently works at St. Mungos where he helps kids and adults. He had asked his boss to leave earlier today so that he could get back home before Melia. Draco had been planning this for months now, but he wanted it to be perfect and had to wait for the right moment. His hand kept tapping the table, waiting and waiting. He got up in a rush as he heard the front door open up. He went to the entrance to welcome her. She smiled at him and kissed him. Then she smelled the amazing smell of lasagna.

“Did you cook?”

“Yes, or halfway. Kreacher and Ellie helped me a little,” he said scratching his neck. She just smiled warmly at him. Kreacher stayed her house-elf after the war because he was more needed at her house instead of the Black’s house and Ellie is their new helper. She was an elf at Hogwarts but chose to stay with Melia and her household. Ellie was a free elf, so she stayed there out of her free will. Hermione is still a little angry at her for choosing to have house elf’s, but both of her elf’s stay on their own accord. Kreacher likes staying at service for the Black family and Ellie just likes Melia. So neither Draco nor Melia sees anything wrong with it.

Draco led her to the drawing-room and pushed out the chair for her before sitting down himself. They ate an amazing dinner and Draco told her about his day. She also told him about her day even though she hadn’t been doing that much different from every other day. Melia works a few days a week at the Ministry as Hermione’s secretary, but not too many. Working full time is too much for her so she either stays home or she stays at Hermione’s. When they were done they went out into the garden to look at the koi fish. Melia loved the fishes there and would always be found out there. As she was looking at the fishes, Draco got down on one knee. She turned around and saw him there with a ring box in his hand.

“Camellia Black Withlock, I love you so much. We have been through a lot of things and I wanted to wait for the right moment too-” he wasn’t able to even finish the sentence.

“Yes, yes, yes! You don’t have to say more because I already know all this.”

“Hey, I didn’t prepare for months just to be cut off!” she smirks at him and he can’t control his serious expression. He smiled and got up from his knee, kissing her hard before taking out the ring and placing it on her finger. He looks at her hand, admiring it.

_The wedding happened about 7 months after he proposed. We had a big wedding at the Malfoy Manor and everyone we knew came. The Weasleys, the Potters, the Turner’s and many many more people. Draco wrote a beautiful speech which he did make longer since he didn’t get to tell me much when he proposed._

_About a month after the wedding, I found out I was pregnant. Everyone was happy for us and helped us through it. I am really happy that Draco is a healer because if something happened, he would know the problem almost right away. Then came the labour day. It was a long and tiring labour, but it went without any problems._

“What is the name of your firstborn?” a nurse asked Melia. She smiled down at the boy lying on her chest and grabbed Draco’s hand.

“Scorpius Nevillous Malfoy,” the nurse nodded her head and went out of the room. As she walked out of the door, a man walked past her towards Melia’s bed.

“I really thought you were going to name him after me, Sugar--“

“We’ll name the next one after you.”

“The next one? There will be more?”

“You already have a child ‘Mione and I don’t think Ron has plans to stop just yet. He’ll probably want one more-- or just the fun behind it,” she winks at Ron who turns almost redder than his hair. Hermione looks between her husband and Melia wondering who she’s going to hit. In the end, she decides Ron since he didn’t just push out a baby out of his vagina.

_You should have seen how red Ron got. I had never seen him be so embarrassed before, and apparently, I was right about him wanting another child. Not long after Scorpius was born, Hermione announced she would be having a second child. This time it was a boy who they named Hugo. A few years after that, I got pregnant again. And this time with twins._

“Hmm…”

“What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

“It looks like I said wrong last time--”

“Wrong? It’s not a girl?”

“There isn’t _a_ _girl_ , but _girls_. You’re having twins, Melia!” she looks at the young nurse with tears in her eyes. “Oh, don’t cry. Draco will get angry at me for making you cry.”

“He’s probably going to be crying himself.”

She laughs under her breath, “Yes, probably. You made him quite soft through the years at Hogwarts.”

“I did, didn’t I,” she said smiling. She got up from the hospital bed and grabbed her coat, hugging the young nurse with a smile. But before she walked out, she turned towards her.

“Oh, and Rosie. You should come to dinner this weekend. We’ll surprise Draco then.”

“Deal!”

_Rosie wanted to follow Draco’s footsteps and became a nurse at the hospital he’s working at. Draco specializes in children’s medical care while Rosie specializes at childbirth, so they both work on the same floor and see each other a lot throughout the day. It almost makes me a little jealous, them seeing each other so much. It makes me miss our days at Hogwarts when we saw each other every day._

_Around this time, Pansy and Daphne got married. They had a small wedding for just their closets and had a large party after the ceremony. Very much in the style of the two of them. Me and Draco didn’t stay that long for the after-party, seeing that I’m pregnant and because we weren’t up to partying._

_Then the next labour came again. This time it happened much faster even though I had to push out two and not one like last time. Both Draco and everyone else thought it was pretty funny._

“What would be the name of the one who was born first?”

“Rosé Hermione Malfoy,” Melia answers with pride in her voice. She glances over at Hermione who has tears running down her face. She had no idea she and Draco would be naming their child after her. Rosie mirrored her expression.

“And the other?”

“Luci Osiccy Malfoy,” Draco answers this time with as much pride in his voice as Melia. The nurse nods her head before leaving the room. She glances over at Harry who was sitting beside Sirius.

“What is it Harry?” she asks as she sees his face in deep thought.

“One of them is named after two people on the right side, while the other is named after people on the bad side,” Sirius hits Harry hard in the arm.

“There isn’t a right or a bad side, Harry! You sound just like your father. He would probably have said the same,” Melia laughed under her breath while Draco shot deathly glances at Harry.

_Rosé Hermione Malfoy, named after two of the most important people of my life. Luci Osiccy Malfoy, named after Draco’s parents and my dear mother. All of our children are named after someone but have more meaning than Harry’s children. I always thought it was weird he called his child Albus Severus when he could have named him after Hagrid and Sirius. Speaking of Severus. After the war, Severus kept teaching at Hogwarts and became the deputy headmaster. I helped him convince Minerva about letting him stay and after that, he hasn’t done anything that has to do with Voldemort. Mine and Draco’s Marks have faded a lot and you can almost not see them at all anymore unless you really look for it._

_Then came the year when Scorpius would start his first year at Hogwarts. Me and Draco were so proud when his letter came. And we assured him that no matter what house he came in, we would love him nonetheless. Following him to the platform and sending him off together with his friends were a little sad, but we knew he would have a fun time there. Later that same day, we got a letter from Scorpius where he told us he came to Slytherin together with Harry’s son, Albus. Draco thought it was pretty funny that someone who was named after Dumbledore was in Slytherin, but I reminded him that he was also named after Severus._

_Two years later Hermione was running for Minister and I was going to be working right under her. Like a right-hand woman. We had planned it for a long time, and then the day finally came when Hermione would get elected. She got the most votes and won! I was so happy for her and proud. I took Hermione home with me that evening after Draco had given me strict orders to do so. When we walked inside the drawing-room, we were stunned by all the people sitting there. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, the Potters, the whole Weasley family including Fred, Rosie, Blaise, Theo, Millicent, Daphne, Pansy and many more. They congratulated us and we had an amazing dinner._

_About a year later Rosé and Luci got sent off to Hogwarts too. I cried on the platform because I didn’t want to leave my two beautiful daughters. Scorpius had to practically drag them away to get them on the train. When we got home, we sat by the fireplace waiting for their letter to come. And when it came I almost ripped it open, but Draco took it from me so that I wouldn’t destroy it by accident. He opened it and read. They loved Hogwarts already and understand why I would always talk so lovely about it. And they came in Ravenclaw! I was so proud of them coming in Ravenclaw. They are most definitely smarter than their parents._

“Melia! If we don’t leave now, we’re going to be late!” Draco furrowed his brows as no answer came. He walked into the living room and found Melia lying on the floor. “Melia!!” He rushed over to her and apparated straight to the hospital. They did tests on her and when they were done, Draco went inside her room.

“Hey,” she croaks, her voice soar. He grabs her hand, kissing it all over. She feels his tears running down on her hand. She wipes away his tears with her thumb, “Darling-- we both knew this would happen. We just didn’t know when. But it was worth it. Even though my life became much shorter, and if I didn’t do it I would live a long regretful life.”

He looks up at her, “I know. But can’t a guy be a little selfish sometimes and wish for more time with his wife?” she smiles faintly at her husband.

“I’m sorry--”

_~_

“Dad! Luci is being mean again!”

“Girls, stop fighting. You’re too old to be fighting over small things like that!”

“Yes, _girls_ you’re too _old_ \--” Scorpius taunts them.

“Scorpius!”

“What?” he says with a sarcastic voice. Draco just rolls his eyes at his 17-year-old boy. He had just graduated from Hogwarts and was going to be working at the Ministry. Draco was very proud of his boy and wouldn’t stop telling him how proud he was of him. He was proud of all his children. All of them did great at school, even Scorpius, and they all had amazing personalities. He couldn’t be prouder of them and his and Melia’s child-rearing.

He grabbed his book again and started reading where he left off, on the last page…

_~_

_As I was sitting in front of the window in my hospital room, I couldn’t help thinking about life. everything that had happened._

_At the age of 14, my life became upside down as I came back to ‘my universe’._

_At the age of 15, I became a Death Eater and had my first mission for the Dark Lord._

_At the age of 16, I had to betray my friends over and over again._

_At the age of 17, me and Draco had to do the hardest mission ever, killing Dumbledore._

_At the age of 18, I lost myself to the Dark but got saved. I fought for my home and won after killing myself._

_I got married, got pregnant twice, became the right-hand woman for the Minister of magic._

_I have done so much, and sometimes I wish I had more time, but time isn’t something that comes easy. And I know I’ll see all of you again eventually. I just have to wait._

_Do not stand at my grave and weep_

_I am not there. I do not sleep._

_I am a thousand winds that blow._

_I am the diamond glints on snow._

_I am the sunlight on ripened grain._

_I am the gentle autumn rain._

_When you awaken in the morning's hush_

_I am the swift uplifting rush_

_Of quiet birds in circled flight._

_I am the soft stars that shine at night._

_Do not stand at my grave and cry;_

_I am not there._

_-Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932_

_I love you all. Thank you for loving me and making my last few years worth living. I will miss you all dearly. Please don’t forget me and don’t shed unnecessary tears._

_Goodbye,_

_Camellia Black Withlock_

_Camilla Kristiansen_

_Melia Black Withlock_

_Melia Black Malfoy_

_~_

He closes the book, putting it back on the stand in the bookshelf before walking towards the living room where his children are still fighting. He lets out a loud annoyed breath as he enters and sees the mess they made. He snaps his fingers and the room is completely cleaned again.

“Didn’t I tell you all to stop fighting?” they all looked down, not daring to look into his eyes and in all unison, they apologized. Draco laughed under his breath before opening his arms. Rosé and Luci came running towards him, embracing him. He looked over at his son who slowly came towards them and joined the hug. Draco smiled widely at his children, feeling happy in that moment.

_One, or in this case, two must die for the other to live…_


	67. A/N

Wow, I can't believe I'm done with this book. I've used so much time on it and I hope you enjoyed it! This book was my very first fan fiction and the very first book I've ever shown anyone except my family and close friends.

Here are some questions I will be answering about the book;

**Lucius and Narcissa were out of character towards Melia!**

_Yes, they were because of a promise they made to her parents. Before she was sent off to Norway her parents made Lucius and Narcissa promise to take care of her and show her the love they wouldn't be able to show anymore._

**How could she be a Horcrux?**

_When Olivianna was pregnant, Voldemort cast the spell that makes a Horcrux on Melia so that her parents couldn't leave._

**How could she use magic outside of school and not get punished?**

_As said earlier in the book, Lucius made her able to do magic outside of school when she was younger. The way he did it was by removing the trace. She never had the trace on her so she could do things without consequences._

**Why did Dumbledore give Melia the bird?**

_Dumbledore felt guilty about her becoming a death eater. He was the one after all who sent her to the Malfoy Manor that summer._

**Why did Sirius call her 'Sugar'?**

_Melia's mother did not like to eat candy or anything that was sugar, but when she was pregnant she ate a lot of candy. Sirius always teased Olivianna about it and that's how Sirius made the nickname for Melia._

I'm currently working on another book that is about Ginny Weasley having a twin sister; 

This story is about Ginny Weasley's twin sister Elaine Weasley who falls in love with Draco Malfoy. She isn't accepted by her family, seeing she's in Slytherin, and on top of that, she has a secret relationship with the infamous Malfoy boy.

(Starts in Draco's fifth year and moves a little fast through the years. It's in a way a short story)

Draco Malfoy x oc

Link: [our little secret | d.m.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26577355)


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